This is unusual to find an authentic printed Amish Wedding Cake recipe for a scratch-made Amish wedding cake, so I'm excited to share this with you. This is from an old Amish cookbook. The recipe was submitted by a Mrs. Jacob Hershberger in Gladwin, Michigan. Cake customs vary from Amish community to Amish community.
This Amish Wedding Cake Recipe sounds simple, not sure what differentiates it from an ordinary cake, i.e., what makes it a "wedding cake" per se. Anyway, check out the recipe! The recipe has nothing about frosting, so I'd just add your own buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting. It also recommends making it in a round pan but if you can use a 13 X 9 inch oblong pan. If you do that, she says to add 2 more tablespoons of flour. So this is a pretty precise recipe.
Anyway, Amish wedding season will begin ramping up in some of the largest Midwestern Amish communities so I thought this would be a timely time to share this recipe! I am sure Amish brides are thinking now about their cake and wedding menu, even if their wedding is still far off.
You can read a lot more about the customs and traditions of Amish weddings here.
This is a wedding cake is from Gloria's brother's Jeriah's wedding. They are New Order Amish, as if the wedding cake above that. The cakes look remarkably similar in style.
Amish wedding cake recipes can be for white, chocolate, strawberry, spice… I think I generally see white or chocolate, but there are no “rules" governing what flavor cake someone can have. Sometimes the cakes are ornate multilevel affairs, those tend to be in the more progressive Amish communities. The more conservative ones will often have just a single-layer cake. Of course, these are generalizations, everything I say you’ll probably be able to find an exception to.
And at most Amish weddings there is a “wedding corner" where the cake and gifts are displayed… And the bride and groom sit. The cake is supposed to be a masterpiece, to send the young couple off into the world with a deliciously sweet treat
Above is an Amish wedding cake in a much more conservative community and the recipe probably tack closely with the one below. Notice in this settlement the cake is a single layer and a little less ornate.
These are wedding cakes made from scratch in the Old German Baptist Brethren Church, which shares many similarities with the Amish and Mennonites. Note the plain appearance of the cakes. But they are still delicious! The bride and her mother usually make the cakes in the days before the wedding.
There are many variations and twists to the below recipe. Some Amish cooks had some nuts to their batter to give the cake crunch but that can be risky with nut allergies being so prevalent. The cake is often baked the Tuesday before the Thursday wedding, it leaves a little leeway in case someone screws up. But the cake definitely is the star of the show after the Amish wedding ceremony. The cake sits in the "eck", which is the Pennsylvania Dutch word describing where the bride and groom are seated, usually a corner table.
Of course, for the recipe below you can use an electric mixer.
💒 Amish Wedding Cake
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1 /2 teaspoons salt
- 5 egg whites
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 / 3 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 2 /3 cup sugar
- 1 1 /3 cup milk
- 1 1 /2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 /4 teaspoon almond extract
📋 Instructions
- Twice sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat egg whites till foamy.
- Add the 6 tablespoons sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating until mixture stands in soft peaks.
- Cream shortening and add sugar gradually.
- Cream till lightly and fluffy.
- Add flour alternately with milk, a small amount at a time.
- Add egg whites and flavorings.
- Beat thoroughly, about one minute.
- Pour into greased 9 X 13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
💒 More Amish Wedding Recipes
🖨️ Full Recipe
Amish Wedding Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups sifted cake flour·
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1 /2 teaspoons salt
- 5 egg whites·
- 6 Tblespoons sugar
- 2 / 3 cup vegetable shortening·
- 1 2 /3 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk·
- 1 1 /2 teaspoons vanilla·
- 1 /4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- 1. Twice sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat egg whites till foamy.
- Add the 6 tablespoons sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating until mixture stands in soft peaks.
- Cream shortening and add sugar gradually.
- Cream till lightly and fluffy.
- Add flour alternately with milk, a small amount at a time.
- Add egg whites and flavorings.
- Beat thoroughly, about one minute.
- Pour into greased 9 X 13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Nary Johnson
It would not be easy to even make the cake much less the icing. Recipe gives no instructions on preparing pans, baking time or temperature. I would not waste the ingredients.
Kevin
Agreed, Nary, the instructions are pretty spare...I just printed it as I had it.
Kay
Is there someone that you can ask about the time, temp and pan sizes?
Michelle
Do we grease and flour the pan? Oven temperature?
Mary
Hello. I never even noticed the lack of instructions. I guess I figured it came from an Amish cookbook, so I figured that most Amish bakers would be able to figure out what needed to be done based on other recipes. I am sure all Amish girls are taught the basics of baking. Pretty much any cake pan would be greased and floured. For most cakes the temperature of the oven is 350. Up at the top it says 40 minutes. It would depend on what size pans you are using but if you bake you pretty much know know you need to check the cake after 25-35 minutes. You can check a recipe you already have if you aren't quite sure. Now I know my 13 year old granddaughter would be asking me for help if I was there. At that age a non Amish girl may not have a lot of experience yet. Anyway, Kevin posted the recipe as it was in the cookbook. As he said, many Amish don't write down their recipes. Anyway, life is too short to get upset over a recipe. Hoping everyone stays safe and happy.