By Clinton Martin
Lancaster County is PA Dutch Country, right? Well, yes. But, Lancaster is only a part of this historic region. Neighboring Berks and Lebanon Counties also lay claim to being PA Dutch Country, and there are unique subcultures within the three counties.
Recently, I was talking with a friend who now resides in Lancaster County, but had grown up in Berks County’s Oley Valley (a headquarters of sorts of the Berks County PA Dutch culture.) She mentioned she had baked some AP Cakes, a PA Dutch treat best suited to pairing with a cup of coffee.
I scratched my head. Being born, raised, steeped, and saturated in PA Dutch culture my whole life, how was it possible I had never heard of an iconic regional baked good? Well, I am Lancaster County all the way, and AP Cake is particularly unique to Berks County. So, I decided to learn about this tasty treat. As it turns out my wife’s side of the family, Dutchy in their own right with an ancestral multi-generational farm near Leesport, Berks County, remembered well Grandfather Jim making this cake almost every time they visited.
The name AP Cake has a few explanations though none are academically proven. The one that I put my personal faith in is an English language adaptation of the German word “eepikuche.” A 1954 newspaper article describes this theory, the German word itself deriving from a French word, pain d’epice which means literally ‘spice bread’ or ‘spice loaf’.
Recipes can vary a little, but if you’d like to try my friend’s version, I asked her if I could share her recipe card with our readers, and she did! So, I’ve got a photo of the hand written recipe here for you to try out if you’d like. Just remember to brew a pot of coffee to enjoy it like a true Berks County Dutchman.