Essential Southern Desserts

[rickmcdaniel]

I am doing the chapter outline (in preparation for shopping it to publishers) for a book on traditional Southern food.

I am writing my book so that hopefully it will be a definitive guide to Southern food and how to prepare it. Since I have a gazillion dessert recipes, choosing the one to use in the dessert chapter is very difficult.

So I’m asking people whose opinion I respect: what are the “classic” Southern desserts, the ones which define Southern cooking?

Here are the ones I have come up with:

Cakes

Grandma Hill’s Plain Cake

Aunt Ruth’s Pound Cake

Grandma Hill’s Coconut Cake

Apple Stack Cake

Blackberry Jam Cake

Scripture Cake

Lane Cake

Lady Baltimore Cake

Red Velvet Cake

Pies, Cobblers and other fruit Desserts

Basic Pie Crust

Aunt Ruth's Sweet Potato Pie

Pecan Pie

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry Shortcake

Peach Pie

Fruit Cobbler

Apple Pie

Chess Pie

Black Bottom Pie

Buttermilk Pie

Jeff Davis Pie

Coconut Custard Pie

Baked Chocolate Pie

Puddings, Fools And Trifles

Real Banana Pudding

Grandma Hill’s Sweet Potato Pudding

Fool

English Trifle

Ambrosia

Bread Pudding

Candy, Cookies And Other Treats

Scottish Shortbread

Oatmeal Cookies

Pralines

Bourbon Balls

The two pound cakes are very different in flavor and texture, hence the duplication.

Any comments and additions are welcome.

Thanks!

[joiei]

How about putting a star or some other sign on the recipes that are best for "Dinner on the Grounds"?

[racheld]

There's a baked chocolate pie, similar to Chess, even called "Chocolate Chess" in some incarnations.

Then there's the cocoa/sugar/milk/egg yolks pudding cooked in a big ole boiler til it blups little air bubbles and thickens into the most unctuous, the most fragrant, the most velvety chocolate concoction on this earth. You let it cool a little bit, pour (spoon would be more apt---it's too thick to pour properly) it into a blind-baked pie crust and top it with the meringue made of the whites. Brown it to gold, let it cool a bit, and get out of the way of anybody else in the house.

Or now that we all seem to have a little torch doohickey in amongst the blenders and pastry-cutters, just ladle the custard into fancy cups, floof on some meringue, chill them, and brown them up right before serving. I like cold chocolate pie best, anyway.

Or was that what you meant?

And I know you didn't mean to leave out Divinity. The very word always makes someone in our family say, "Do you remember the time....? in reference to a teenage SIL who was helping my MIL, famous for her desserts and candies. SIL thought that if you could tint half the Divinity pink and half pale green and arrange the two colors on the teastand for a lovely effect, why not just put both colors into the mixer while it was running and have something GORGEOUS. MIL never did live down serving GRAY Divinity to the WMU.

[racheld]

And does Grandma Hill's Coconut Cake have 7-Minute Frosting? That's a good old southern standby.

[Pan]

Is Bean Pie traditional in the South?

[therese]

Derby Pie

[browniebaker]

Hummingbird cake. So Southern and old-fashioned, most people don't know about it.

[joiei]

my mother was always making her friendship cake to take to funerals.

[ChefCarey]

Are you stressing "rural" Southern? I have several traditional New Orleans desserts in my book, Creole Nouvelle: Contemporary Creole Cookery

Creole Nouvelle

I am doing the chapter outline (in preparation for shopping it to publishers) for a book on traditional Southern food.

I am writing my book so that hopefully it will be a definitive guide to Southern food and how to prepare it. Since I have a gazillion dessert recipes, choosing the one to use in the dessert chapter is very difficult.

So I’m asking people whose opinion I respect: what are the “classic” Southern desserts, the ones which define Southern cooking?

Here are the ones I have come up with:

Cakes

  Grandma Hill’s Plain Cake

  Aunt Ruth’s Pound Cake

  Grandma Hill’s Coconut Cake

  Apple Stack Cake

  Blackberry Jam Cake

  Scripture Cake

  Lane Cake

  Lady Baltimore Cake

  Red Velvet Cake

Pies, Cobblers and other fruit Desserts

  Basic Pie Crust

  Aunt Ruth's Sweet Potato Pie

  Pecan Pie

  Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

  Strawberry Shortcake

  Peach Pie

  Fruit Cobbler

  Apple Pie

  Chess Pie

  Black Bottom Pie

  Buttermilk Pie

  Jeff Davis Pie

  Coconut Custard Pie

  Baked Chocolate Pie

Puddings, Fools And Trifles

  Real Banana Pudding

  Grandma Hill’s Sweet Potato Pudding

  Fool

  English Trifle

  Ambrosia

  Bread Pudding

Candy, Cookies And Other Treats

  Scottish Shortbread

  Oatmeal Cookies

  Pralines

  Bourbon Balls

 

The two pound cakes are very different in flavor and texture, hence the duplication.

Any comments and additions are welcome.

Thanks!

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[enrevanche]

So I’m asking people whose opinion I respect: what are the “classic” Southern desserts, the ones which define Southern cooking?

←

In rural North Carolina, the old folks make a variation on a classic old English dessert called "syllabub"; the Southern rendering of the pronunciation is closer to "sillybub."

It is a concoction made with heavy (whipping) cream, fresh lemon juice, white wine or sherry, sugar, and fresh mint (some folks add cinammon and/or nutmeg.)

[Lan4Dawg]

all of the men in my extended family would heartily vote "PECAN PIE!" and vote loudly & often. It has become traditional that at Thanksgiving the Fuss has to make six pecan pies. One each for the Rev and both of his brothers & one for his brother-in-law, one for the table, & one to keep at home (if you think I am missing out, well then you can think again!)

For some reason people tend to think of peach cobbler when they think of truly Southern desserts but I do not ever remember getting peach cobbler at a family function or even a church social. That was always more of a restaurant sort of thing. Just about every thing else on the list showed up at some family function, church social, funeral, camp meeting, "all day singin/preachin and dinner on the ground", or other similar type gathering.

[rickmcdaniel]

Thanks for all the help so far, guys and gals! Some answers to comments:

How about putting a star or some other sign on the recipes that are best for "Dinner on the Grounds"?

Great idea. I'll work on that later today.

Then there's the cocoa/sugar/milk/egg yolks pudding cooked in a big ole boiler til it blups little air bubbles and thickens into the most unctuous, the most fragrant, the most velvety chocolate concoction on this earth. You let it cool a little bit, pour (spoon would be more apt---it's too thick to pour properly) it into a blind-baked pie crust and top it with the meringue made of the whites. Brown it to gold, let it cool a bit, and get out of the way of anybody else in the house.

Yep, it's that one.

And does Grandma Hill's Coconut Cake have 7-Minute Frosting? That's a good old southern standby.

Yes it does, and is made with fresh coconut, with directions on how to stalk, kill and skin one.

Is Bean Pie traditional in the South?

Only in Southern New York.

Derby Pie

For years, the couple who developed this recipe in the 1940s gave it away, and it appeared in a gazillion cookbooks. After they died, their son trademarked the name and set out to enforce it. I had to remove it from my Web site under threat of legal action, so thanks, but no thanks.

Hummingbird cake. So Southern and old-fashioned, most people don't know about it.

I had it in the original list I started with, but cut it, It may re-appear, but like Dreby Pie, there may be legal things as it is a fairly new recipe compared to the rest (I believe it came about in the 1940s or very early 50s, off the top of my head).

my mother was always making her friendship cake to take to funerals.

This is made in the South, but is more identified with the Amish.

Are you stressing "rural" Southern? I have several traditional New Orleans desserts in my book, Creole Nouvelle: Contemporary Creole Cookery

I only have two New Orleans desserts, pralines and bread pudding. Beignets are in the bread chapter under quick breads. I may put in a Gateau de Sirop (cane syrup cake), but if the book gets picked up and I get to do another, it will be desserts with lots of Creole goodies.

In rural North Carolina, the old folks make a variation on a classic old English dessert called "syllabub"; the Southern rendering of the pronunciation is closer to "sillybub."

Another one I considered, but didn't make the cut. It is in reserve and still might.

Again, my thanks to everyone, and all you folks who are reading and not posting, don't be shy! If you like to eat and can type, let me know what you think. What sis Grandma make that I don't have here?

Edited July 23, 2005 by rickmcdaniel (log)

[racheld]

My Grandmother made the quintessential Southern dessert---Pineapple cake. It answered all the necessities: eggs from the henyard, in the deep-yellow layers and whipped to snowy softness as 7-minute icing; flour, sugar, homechurned butter and an elegant treat: a can of crushed pineapple.

I mentioned it fondly in the "Adventures in Eating" site in the "Childhood Treats" thread on March 3, but don't yet know how to make the link where the letters turn blue and take you there with one click.

EVERYBODY loved it. And I thought everyone must have one in their own pie safe at all times. I'm glad WE did.

[goldie]

We ate a whole lot of fry pies (pie crust with filling folded like a crescent over and fried, could have another name) in various flavors (peach, apple, blueberry) when I was visiting my Oklahoma grandma, but I'm not sure if they were a southern invention.

Divinty fudge was huge in my family.

What about coca- cola cake? I think it is gross, but I do remember it from a lot of church suppers.

Benne wafers from the Lowcountry? They are terrific and my Massachusetts neighbors think I'm brillant when I make them.

[Pan]

Is Bean Pie traditional in the South?

Only in Southern New York.

←

In all seriousness, it is not traditional here, except perhaps among a very particular segment of the population (more about that below), and at least some sources state that it is a Southern type of pie:

about.com Southern U.S. Cuisine: Bean Pie Recipe

But here's a very interesting SF Gate article giving a different take on its origins:

Bean pie has been around since at least 1930 with the emergence of the Nation of Islam. The late leader, Elijah Muhammad, wanted to help the young, economically disadvantaged African American men drawn to the religion, so among the lifestyle changes he recommended was to refrain from eating more than once a day because the food they traditionally ate (such as fried foods) was unhealthy.

Halimah said Muhammad urged his followers to eat from the earth and consume less meat. Thus, fish, bean pie and bean soup became staples in the diet of the Nation of Islam followers.

The identity and origins of Wallace Fard Muhammad, the founder of the sect, appear to be in dispute, but the Nation of Islam is most associated with Elijah Muhammad, who was born in Sandersville, Georgia and subsequently moved to Detroit and later, Chicago, where the Nation of Islam now has its headquarters.

The way I was introduced to bean pie was that some convenience stores in Manhattan sell small sweet potato pies and bean pies made by what I believe to be a black Muslim (whether Nation of Islam or not, I don't know) commercial bakery in Brooklyn. But they're certainly not a commonplace item in bakeries here, unfortunately.

My web searching related to this post has shown that people in various different parts of the country make different kinds of sweet and savory bean pies. It's also been observed that bean pie of the type referred to in the SF Gate article is spiced similarly to sweet potato pie. I'm not convinced that we've clearly established the origins of the pie yet, or how old the concept and tradition really are.

[Edit: I just bumped a thread on bean pie, and we can have further discussion on the history and origins of the pie there.]

Edited July 23, 2005 by Pan (log)

[ruthcooks]

Mississippi Mud Cake

Key Lime Pie

Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Cake/Butter Cake

Moon Pies (homemade, of course)

Just because a Southerner grew up eating certain foods doesn't mean the foods are Southern food, so you might have some 'splainin to do about some of your choices. Apple pie, strawberry shortcake and oatmeal cookies, for example, are more likely to be classified as American desserts than Southern desserts. Scottish Shortbread? English Trifle?

[joiei]

My Grandmother made the quintessential Southern dessert---Pineapple cake.  It answered all the necessities:  eggs from the henyard, in the deep-yellow layers and whipped to snowy softness as 7-minute icing; flour, sugar, homechurned butter and an elegant treat:  a can of crushed pineapple.

I mentioned it fondly in the "Adventures in Eating" site in the "Childhood Treats" thread on March 3, but don't yet know how to make the link where the letters turn blue and take you there with one click.

EVERYBODY loved it.  And I thought everyone must have one in their own pie safe at all times.    I'm glad WE did. 

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Hi Racheld, a quick note, pm one of the moderators and they can give you detailed instructions on how to use quotes and to link to other web pages. To pm a moderator, go to the forums home page, click on the name listed under a topic then click on "send a personal Message" and fill out the info and hit send. It took me a long time to figure that out also. I still have trouble sometimes.

[kdl1221]

Mississippi Mud Cake

Key Lime Pie

Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Cake/Butter Cake

Moon Pies (homemade, of course)

Just because a Southerner grew up eating certain foods doesn't mean the foods are Southern food, so you might have some 'splainin to do about some of your choices.  Apple pie, strawberry shortcake and oatmeal cookies, for example, are more likely to be classified as American desserts than Southern desserts.  Scottish Shortbread?  English Trifle?

←

Here here for the key lime pie. Also... blackberry cobbler. Nuts and fruit were always used in dessert recipes. Also those cheap priced ingrediants.

Muscadines <sp?> were used for many things, besides wine. Ice creams or sauces for ice cream (vanilla only)... could be combined with blackberry cobbler, vanilla icecream, and musc. sauce.

Not sure how much of a recipe you could do with biscuits, peanut butter, and syrup? :) yummm

But blackberries and muscadines are worth mentioning I believe... headed out this afternoon to pick blackberries for wine too!

My vote is deffinately pecan pie or key lime pie

Edited July 24, 2005 by kdl1221 (log)

[Jaymes]

Peanut Butter Pie?

It was a big favorite, as I recall.

Oh, and how about Pineapple Upside Down Cake?

Edited July 24, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[sweetfreak]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Caramel Cake with lots and lots of thin layers...

[pamjsa]

What about Sugar Cream Pie? (The name of which basically tells you what's in it.)

I must take issue with the notion that peach cobbler isn't a traditional southern dessert. Around these parts of Texas, anyway, the ubiquitous peach cobbler is second only to pecan pie.

And before anyone says that Texas isn't really part of The South, let me remind you that them's fightin' words . . .

[judiu]

Rick, you HAVE to read "Being Dead is No Excuse" a very, very funny book about hosting funerals in the south. It's a major giggle producer, with some very good recipes in it. IT IS A HOOT!

[takomabaker]

I was going to mention Hummingbird Cake and you beat me to it. I LOVE it. Also, Coconut Cake (my family recipe is entitled Grandmother Goddard's Coconut Cake -- it was my grandmother's grandmother who was Grandmother Goddard), pecan pie (obviously), key lime pie (if you are from Florida), banana and Nilla wafer pudding (with a glass of really cold milk!!!), sweet potato pie, lemon meringue pie, ambrosia/heavenly delight (whether you see it as as dessert or side dish, it's still sweet), cat's tongues, jello molds with canned fruit cocktail (you secretly love it so just admit it), icebox cakes, DIVINITY (yum)....

I know I'll think of more!

Hummingbird cake. So Southern and old-fashioned, most people don't know about it.

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[joiei]

DIVINITY (yum)....

I know I'll think of more!

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Now, ya done flung a cravn' on me. And it ain't even anywhere near Christmas.

[browniebaker]

Another vote for peach cobbler as an essentially Southern dessert. How can anyone say it's not? Growing up in Tennessee, we used to have it for dessert at least once a week in summer. I have since lived in three cities north along the east coast and have hardly ever seen peach cobbler unless I made it myself. I crave it. So I make it myself, just to have a taste of my Southern childhood. It's Southern, I tell ya!