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    Home » Recipes » Amish Cakes

    Amish Cowboy Cake

    Published: Apr 8, 2022 · Updated: Apr 30, 2022 by Kevin Williams | 8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    Amish Cowboy Cake

    I'm left scratching my head at why this recipe is called "cowboy cake."  The recipe comes to me from an Old Order Mennonite settlement in Missouri and is apparently very popular there.  But the Mennonite woman who gave it to me never did explain how it got its name.  

    Jump to:
    • 🎂 Amish Cowboy Cake Ingredients
    • 📋 Instructions
    • 🎂 More Amish Cake Recipes
    • 🖨️ Full Recipe

    If you flip through any Amish cookbook you will see all sorts of interesting recipe names.  And, often, their origin is lost to history.

    This recipe is called “cowboy cake “but I’m not sure why. It does come to us from Missouri. It’s very popular there. But the woman who gave it to me wasn’t sure how it got its name.

    I will say, however, that there has been a long-running fascination among the Amish with cowboys, the open range, the great plains, and rodeos.

    There have been a number of Amish men over the years who have headed west to try their hand at cattle ranching. In fact, the Amish communities that have taken root in Montana are often because of some of those more adventuresome wayward Amish men who wanted to try their hand out west. So, perhaps this recipe is just a holdover from those days.

    Some Amish teenage boys and young men actually work as ranch hands in the Saint Ignatius, Montana Amish community. Man, I will never forget driving with my wife along a rural road in Montana and just seeing this thundering herd of Holsteins coming towards us, they took up the entire road, there was nowhere for us to go, so I just put the car in park and the cows swarmed around the car and they disappeared as fast as they could. But they really shook the car as they went by.

    This is the Amish Cattle drive we got caught in!

    So, let's get back to this recipe.  We made this cake and it is so delicious, simple, and the texture is just perfect.

    Amish Cowboy Cake

    Very basic ingredients: brown sugar, flour, buttermilk, and a few other ingredients are the foundation of this recipe.

    The brown sugar makes a superb texture with the flour and buttermilk. You make this in a square or a round pan, lightly greased. Don't overbake. Delicious with a glass of milk or cup of coffee.

    Amish Cowboy Cake

    🎂 Amish Cowboy Cake Ingredients

    • 2 cups brown sugar
    • 2 cups unsifted flour
    • 1 /2 shortening
    • 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
    • 1 /2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teapsoon soda
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla
    • 1 egg

    📋 Instructions

    1. Mix first three ingredients to crumb consistency.
    2. Take out 3 /4 cup crumbs and then add rest of ingredients.  
    3. When mixed well, pour into greased pan and sprinkle with ¾ remaining crumbs.
    4.  Bake in moderate oven until done.

    🎂 More Amish Cake Recipes

    Pineapple Cake

    Cake For Company

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    🖨️ Full Recipe

    Amish Cowboy Cake

    Amish Cowboy Cake

    delicious and sweet
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American, Amish

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups brown sugar
    • 2 cups unsifted flour
    • 1 /2 cup shortening
    • 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
    • 1 /2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla
    • 1 egg

    Instructions
     

    •   Mix first three ingredients to crumb consistency.
    • Take out 3 /4 cup crumbs and then add rest of ingredients.  
    • When mixed well, pour into greased pan and sprinkle with ¾ remaining crumbs.  
    • Bake in moderate oven until done.
       
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Angie Adair

      March 25, 2012 at 2:04 pm

      I am thinking that it was made with ingredients they probably had on hand out on the range, and it could be eaten with their hands.

      Reply
    2. Mona G.

      March 25, 2012 at 2:09 pm

      Have no answer for this one....but since you have thousands of Amish friends, maybe you can get us an answer.....did you ask Lovina ?????
      Maybe Erik can help you find the answer.....he also has lots of Amish friends......

      Reply
    3. Bonnie Daniel

      March 25, 2012 at 2:13 pm

      Maybe because it has the basic food supplies
      that the cowboys would have in their saddle pack when working ?

      Reply
    4. Magdalena

      March 25, 2012 at 2:16 pm

      My guess is that it was originally made in a dutch oven in the campfire coals. I have a similar Mennonite recipe simply called crumb cake.

      Reply
    5. NY Baker

      March 25, 2012 at 2:29 pm

      No pan size is listed, but given the relatively small amount of flour, I'm guessing it's for an 8x8 pan... other suggestions? Thanks!

      Reply
    6. Arlene Morr

      March 25, 2012 at 4:42 pm

      I have this cake recipe... called "Crumb Cake"...it is baked in a 350º oven for 30 minutes...in 2 8" pans or I use a 13X9" pan...also it is 1/2 C shortening. It is like a coffee cake and that's probably why it's called Cowboy Cake like others have said...eaten out of hand and ingredients available. It is really good.

      Reply
    7. Gary Jones

      March 25, 2012 at 4:45 pm

      Funny replies. ;o)

      "supplies that the cowboys would have in their saddle pack when working ?" Eggs?

      Reply
    8. Arlene Morr

      March 25, 2012 at 5:08 pm

      Gary..they had chuck wagons that went along and am sure that's where the supplies were....probably had chickens, too for the eggs and to eat, Just guessing !!!!

      Reply

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    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

    More about me →

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