Pennsylvania Dutch Funny Cake is a delicious and unexpected combination of buttery pie crust, rich chocolatey filling, and moist yellow cake.
The next time you can’t decide if you want pie or cake for Dessert, you can make this Funny Cake Pie and not choose at all. The sweet vanilla cake and chocolate mixture are baked in a deep-dish pie plate with a Flaky Crust, just like your favorite pie recipe.
Sabrina’s Pennsylcania Dutch Funny Cake
Dutch Funny Cake is a favorite recipe in Pennsylvania Dutch Baking. The Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch are known for their classic baking, and folks just can’t get enough of their recipes. This can quickly become a favorite dessert, and it’s so easy to make with simple pantry ingredients.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar , divided
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup whole milk , divided
- 1 pie crust
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon shortening
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan add ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup cocoa powder.
- Whisk in 6 tablespoons milk until smooth.
- Cook on medium heat until little bubbles start to form.
- Cook for 2 minutes until thickened.
- Remove from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl add the remaining ½ cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk well.
- In a measuring cup add the remaining 6 tablespoons milk, egg yolk, shortening, and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
- Add wet mixture to the flour mixture in the bowl and whisk to combine.
- Line a pie plate with pie crust.
- Add the cake mixture to the pie plate.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the cake batter in a swirling pattern.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. If the edges brown before your pie is done, cover the edges in foil.
- Cool 15 minutes before serving (also great served cold).
Nutrition
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Table of Contents
About this Recipe
This is such a great comfort food. It’s perfect for a sweet, simple dessert, or even a rich breakfast. Enjoy a slice of cold Pennsylvania Dutch Funny Cake at your kitchen table with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, or with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream for a more classic dessert dish.
Baking Tips and Tricks
- Chocolate Layer: You only need granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and milk to make the chocolate mixture. Use half of the sugar and half of the ¾ cup milk from the rest of the recipe. The combination creates a rich, chocolatey filling, and as you cook, it will thicken. Though, you pour the chocolate mixture on top; it will sink during the baking time and end up as an amazing chocolate layer at the bottom.
- Yellow Cake Ingredients: You only need a few pantry ingredients like baking powder, all-purpose flour, salt, an egg, and vanilla extract to make the batter. One unique ingredient is the shortening. While most cakes would have butter, this one has shortening. Whisking it with the other ingredients creates pockets of air for a light, fluffy cake.
- Pie Crust: You can use any of your favorite pie crust options from the grocery store for a pre-made pastry crust, or make Homemade crust. To make the Homemade Pie Crust, you just need all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt, cold butter, and ice water for super-simple pastry dough.
How to Store
- Serve: This Funny Cake recipe can stay good at room temperature for up to 2 days. Cover it in plastic wrap once it’s cooled so it can keep fresh.
- Store: To keep Pennsylvania Dutch Funny Cake for up to a week, you can store it in the fridge instead.
- Freeze: To freeze the cake, double wrap it in Saran Wrap followed by aluminum foil. Then it can stay good frozen for about 3 months.
Variations
- Chocolate Chips: Along with the bottom chocolate layer, you can add a chocolate chip topping to the Funny Cake recipe. If you add the chocolate chips to the top before baking, they’ll just sink to the bottom with the rest of the chocolate. Instead, wait until about halfway through baking, open the oven and sprinkle them over the top.
- Crumb Crust: This Dutch Recipe is traditionally made with flaky, pastry pie crust. If you’d rather have a crumbly, buttery crust, you can follow our recipe for Graham Cracker Crust instead.
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