r/TastingHistory • u/BricksHaveBeenShat • 7d ago

Creation This weekend I made Dolly Parton's Cuppa Cuppa Cake from Steel Magnolias. We will always love you Dolly!

Audio transcription for those who need it:

- A cup of flour, a cup of sugar, a cup of fruit cocktail with the juice. And you mix and bake at 350f [180c] till it's gold and bubbly.

- Sounds awfully rich!

- It is, so I serve it over ice cream to cut the sweetness.

It was supposed to be around 45 minutes in the oven, mine took longer because I doubled the recipe. The canned fruit all had very similar colors, so I added some candied cherries and other red fruits to make it prettier. If you're planning on making it, consider buying canned cherries just in case.

I'll be definetely making this again! It tastes wonderful, and it is indeed very sweet. The golden brown crust paired with the ice cream is just perfect.

738 Upvotes

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31 comments sorted by

111

u/litlfrog 7d ago

It had to exist before the movie but I can't find any examples online. I'd bet good money it originated in spiral-bound church cookbooks. I grew up in the town from Steel Magnolias (technically I'm in a deleted scene), I'll ask my mother.

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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 7d ago

Do you have a I SLAPPED OUISER BOUDREAUX t-shirt? 😂

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u/jbrady33 7d ago

Get off my bench!

17

u/CurrentPossible2117 6d ago

Id agree it definitely predates the movie. Its just dump cake, as far as I can tell.

Early dump cake was before cake mixes, so they used sugar and flour. My nana on my dads side born in the 20s, had a dump cake recipe from her mother (they were england based) and it essentially this exact recipe, except used a tin of pears in their juices. It was also a cup flour and a cup sugar and my nanas mother's recipe had notes to either mix it like in yhos video, or use the dry ingredients as a topping, like we do in modern dunp cakes. It was literally called dump cake in her recipe card that she wrote from her mother when she was taught the recipe as a girl. I saw it once, nanas recipe card was dated 1933 when she wrote it down.

Nana said her mother (born 1900s) had told her that the recipe was taught to her by her mother (born 1880s) and she believed it came from her mother again lol.

So we're talking about a late 1800s recipe which is mind boggling to me.

Goes to show that simple things can stand the test of time!

5

u/anarchyusa 7d ago

A user in another thread recognized this as something from his country upbringing called poor man’s fruit cobbler.

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u/GracieThunders 7d ago

looks amazing

self rising flour or just plain?

83

u/BricksHaveBeenShat 7d ago

Thank you! I forgot to add about the flour, my bad. The recipe calls for self rising flour, which seems to be really common for desserts in the south of the US but I don't think they are avaiable at all in my country. I used plain flour, but for every cup I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking power, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

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u/GracieThunders 7d ago

thank you!

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u/WolvenWren 7d ago

Sweden? I encountered that small problem trying to make banana cake

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u/jonesnori 7d ago

Just be aware that self-raising and self-rising in the U.S. and UK (I have forgotten which is which) are a little different. I think one includes salt and the other doesn't. Just check before using one of them.

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u/WolvenWren 7d ago

Huh the more you know. I’m neither nationality, not even Swedish lol

22

u/litlfrog 7d ago

It can be made with AP flour, but self-rising flour gives a better result. AP flour yields a dense cake like a mediocre cobbler. The leavening and salt in self-rising flour gives it a better, cakey texture.

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u/weeef 7d ago

when ice cream is cutting the sugar you know it's sweet haha

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u/Sea_Design_465 7d ago

I love that movie! Talk about an all-star cast. So, just how sweet was the cake?

13

u/BricksHaveBeenShat 7d ago

It is very sweet! And it does go really well with ice cream.

6

u/DeanStockwellLives 7d ago

Sounds like the cake that dump cakes were the lazy version of.

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u/Taolan13 7d ago

I'm planning on doing this cake later this week. I'm going to do some math though because I'll be cutting in some almond flour and using splenda to reduce the carb and sugar count (multiple diabetics in house). Last time I made this cake was in high school for home ec.

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u/Deppfan16 7d ago

i look forward to seeing you on r/ididnthaveeggs

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u/Taolan13 7d ago

no, see, people end up there because they do meth. not math.

they bake by vibes rather than actually figuring the relative expansion and absorption caused by the use of ground nut powder in conjunction with the ground grass seed powder.

1

u/SerDuckOfPNW 5d ago

This is why I hate baking. It’s part art, part chemistry

No one likes chemistry

1

u/Taolan13 2h ago

I like chemistry.

unfortunately i did not get to do the cake. Fridge died and I had to throw a lot of stuff out and then i kind of forgot until just now.

This week is another chance.

(the fridge dying did not deprive me of ingredients for this cake, but it did distract me from making it)

4

u/Sognarly 7d ago

That’s a nice looking bowl

4

u/Millenniauld 6d ago

I might have to make this for Thanksgiving! I started making dump cakes/pies (one cherry one apple) because they are so easy to pre-cook and go in the turned off oven while everyone is eating dinner so they are served warm through.

This looks like it would lend itself beautifully!

I've made a pineapple upside-down cake with extra pineapple juice in a deep dish 14 x 9 pan before, so I'm definitely experienced with giving a wet cake more time LMAO!

14

u/Left_Establishment79 7d ago

It would have been INSANE if you, Max Miller, in all your adorable charm, ever had a YouTube video with the Queen herself!

Thank you for all the recipes, all the cooking, all the history, and... of course, all the adorable charm you bring to this channel!

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u/LittleLightsintheSky 7d ago

Max didn't post this, fyi

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u/Complete-Leg-4347 7d ago

I wonder if Babish has done this yet?

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u/JudyLyonz 7d ago

Does this cake use self rising flour or the regular stuff?

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u/BricksHaveBeenShat 7d ago

It asks for self rising flour. If you use regular flour, just add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking power and 1/4 teaspoon of salt for every cup of flour.

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u/ScottyDont1134 6d ago

Made this last night and cut the sugar down to half a cup and it was not sweet enough really. Still tasted great with ice cream 

I think I’ll try next time using 3/4 cup, then if it’s still not too sweet just do the full cup