With apple season in full swing, Atlanta cookbook author and Saving Southern Food chefs panel member Virginia Willis tried two out-of-the-ordinary heirloom cake recipes that take advantage of the harvest. One is an Appalachian tradition; the other is a recipe that probably originated in a Farm Journal magazine that not only has been passed down through several generations — but also among an office full of co-workers as well!

Family (ENLARGE)

Kate Hicks Miller (right, with Barbara Lillard) makes stack cakes to share with friends and family. The cakes aren't difficult to make, but they do require time and patience.

Louie Favorite/Staff (ENLARGE)

Aunt Martha's Fresh Apple Cake.

Louie Favorite/Staff (ENLARGE)

Kate Hicks Miller's Stack Cake.

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The contributor: Alicia Anderson, a 38-year-old Atlanta native with east Tennessee (Maryville) roots who now lives in Buckhead and works in software sales. "I come from a family of excellent cooks on both my mother's and dad's sides. Both families are in or near Maryville, and there are a lot of us," she writes. "My aunts love to get in the kitchen together and gossip and cook and tell dirty jokes. ... They are all so funny and all great cooks. Simple country cooking, pot roasts, casseroles, Jell-O galore and lots of amazing sweets."

Although her parents moved to Atlanta before she was born (her father worked in sales for Delta), she continues, "We took big advantage of our Delta flight benefits to go to Maryville for all major holidays. Our family is very close — I have a lot of cousins that I grew up with that are like brothers and sisters to me. Our holidays and summers in Tennessee are among my favorite family memories."

The story: "Stack cakes are a holiday tradition for as long as I can remember. It's my personal favorite since it's not a super-sweet dessert (a good change from all the rich fudge, candy, etc., that we also have during the holidays). It's very unique since not many folks make them, and so good with coffee.

"My grandmother Kate Hicks Miller makes several every year to share with friends and for family celebrations. She is 84 years old and has more energy than I do! My grandfather (her husband) died 35 years ago, and she remarried but is now a widow again. She had four children — my mother (the oldest) and three boys. She has a number of food traditions for our family: vegetable soup on Christmas Eve (with corn bread); fudge, candy, fried pies and fruitcake cookies (another specialty) for Christmas; turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas Day; and chicken and dumplings made especially (and only) for her family reunion, held every June.

"She stays very busy and loves to go out to eat with her friends, travel (everywhere from church bus tours to my brother's wedding two years ago in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico), and be with the family. She truly is an amazing, strong woman and such a positive influence in our lives.

"I made the stack cake one time for a school project. It was pretty successful, but somehow just not the same. It's not a hard cake to make, it just takes some time and patience (which I am short on)."

The contributor: Cathy Davis, a grandmother of two, avid quilter and bookkeeper for Precedence, Inc., a hotel/motel renovation company in Douglasville, where she was born and raised. She has four sons and had two long-term foster children, "all of whom are grown and 'launched.' "

The story: Davis told us that her co-worker Marci McCoy Wallace gave her this recipe several years ago, and it has become the most-requested birthday cake in their office. She e-mailed Wallace to tell her we were running the recipe, and her friend in turn shared the story with us:

"My Aunt Martha Jo McCoy is 72 years old and has lived all her life in Walnut, Miss., a town with a population of less than 400, about 75 miles southeast of Memphis. When I was young, I spent summers and holidays there and always wished I could live there, it was so small.

"This recipe actually came from her mother, Naomi Hopkins, also from Walnut, Miss., who died about eight years ago. My Aunt Martha believes that her mom may have gotten this recipe from the Farm Journal magazine about 40 years ago. She made it for family and church functions.

"I had forgotten about the cake until I went back to Walnut for my grandmother's funeral about 10 years ago. My Aunt Martha had made the cake that weekend, and I tasted it again. I asked for the recipe then. I mentioned it at work a few years later, and Cathy asked for it. That's why we call it Aunt Martha's [Fresh] Apple Cake.

"Now Cathy makes it for all our co-workers' birthdays, so we get to eat it several times a year. It is really good even without the buttermilk glaze, but we all think the glaze adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the cake. The cake is excellent warm from the oven, but once cooled, I just warm mine in the microwave and it melts the glaze. ... Mmmmmmm, so good."

Aunt Martha's Fresh Apple Cake
Makes 1 (10-inch) cake; 12 servings

Hands on: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

This cake is moist, rich and perfect for fall. Virginia Willis made a few small adjustments; she suggests coating the pecans and apples in flour to allow them to disperse evenly throughout the batter, not sink to the bottom. She comments: "I shared it with my neighbors, and they all loved it. I see why it's the most-requested birthday cake in Cathy and Marci's office!"

For the cake:
Baking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup chopped apples
1 cup chopped pecans
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup sweetened coconut

For the icing:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan or tube pan with baking spray; set aside.

Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Combine the apples and pecans in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the mixed dry ingredients and toss to coat; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and orange juice. Add the reserved dry ingredients, apple-pecan mixture and coconut. Mix on low speed until combined. Pour batter into bundt pan. Transfer to oven and cook until the sides start to pull away from the pan, about 1 hour. Remove to a rack placed over a baking sheet to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Invert cake directly onto rack.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing: In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, buttermilk and baking soda. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it turns pale golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Drizzle the icing over the cake on the rack, letting the excess drip to the baking sheet below. Set aside to let icing set, 5 to 7 minutes, before cutting.

Per serving: 665 calories (percent of calories from fat, 54), 5 grams protein, 73 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 41 grams fat (10 grams saturated), 74 milligrams cholesterol, 195 milligrams sodium.

Kate Hicks Miller's Stack Cake
Makes 1 (8-inch) cake; 12 servings

Hands on: 40 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Virginia Willis noted that, while the recipe is not very difficult, it is slightly tedious because the cake layers are traditionally baked one at a time. So she did a little research to see if she could shorten the process and spoke to Nancie McDermott, author of "Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations." McDermott commented that she has seen recipes for stack cake with batter and biscuit-type layers. The layers of both versions were baked one at a time because often people didn't have multiple cake pans, and often the layers were baked in a cast-iron skillet.

At McDermott's suggestion, Willis decided to use cake pans upside down. This simplifies moving an 8-inch cookie from the work surface to a baking sheet (not an easy feat) and the cake pan ensures that all the layers will be the same size. It does require 3 cake pans, but it beats baking the cakes one at a time.

5 cups self-rising flour, plus more for rolling
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup vegetable shortening
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups prepared apple butter
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar and nutmeg. Add shortening and blend on low speed until it resembles coarse meal. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Blend until the dough is well-combined. Remove to a cutting board or clean work surface dusted with flour. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions, about the size of a medium apple. (A professional scale is helpful.)

Turn 3 8-inch cake pans upside down. Dust each with flour. Roll out a ball of dough to the edges of the pan. Repeat with remaining dough, reserving 3 balls of dough for the remaining layers. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool slightly. Slide off the cake pan to a rack to cool completely. Run the cake pans under cold running water to cool them. Dry well and repeat with remaining dough.

Place one layer on a large serving or cake plate. Top with 1/4 cup apple butter; spread with an offset spatula or spoon to the edges of the layer. Repeat with remaining cake layers and apple butter. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Store tightly wrapped in aluminum foil or a cake saver at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Per serving: 555 calories (percent of calories from fat, 31), 7 grams protein, 89 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 19 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 53 milligrams cholesterol, 20 milligrams sodium.