I was doing a Google search for something completely unrelated to food or desserts and I saw on the a link that said Funny Cake. I had to click on it because I could not imagine what a funny cake was since I had ever heard of it.

Why is this cake called a “Funny Cake”

This unique cake is a cross between being a cake and pie. Like not other, it is really a chocolate pie topped with a vanilla cake. The funny ( odd) combination might lead one to question:

Isn’t it funny that a chocolate pie can be combined with a cake?
Isn’t is funny the chocolate is on the bottom when it was poured on the top?
Isn’t it funny that the cake did not turn to chocolate when the chocolate was poured on top ?

Origin of the Funny Cake

Interested in learning the origin of the Funny Cake, I was surprised to learn that this cake had a long history dating back at least to the 1940’s. At this time Swans promoted the cake with having the recipe on their box of flour. I have learned that the Funny Cake has its roots in Pennsylvania in the Amish areas. It is said that Funny cakes were popular at fairs along with spoffy cakes and Montgomery pies. In the 1940’s Swan

Funny Cake

Print Recipe

Is it a cake or a pie??

Ingredients

2 cups Flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Butter
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla cup
1 cup Milk
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Coco powder
1 cup Boiling water
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Instructions

This is a 3 part recipe. First you need a pie crust. Second is the yellow cake part of the recipe. Third, is the chocolate layer. No worries, this is a really a quick recipe to put together.
For the crust, you have 2 options. You can make you own from scratch or purchase a ready made pie crust from the grocery store. . Check out my Phenomenal Pie Crust recipe.
Pie size- if you are using a deep dish pie pan, the recipe will make one pie. If you are using a regualr 9 inch pie pan like the ones made by Pryex, the recipe will make 2 pies.
Making the Pie:
In one bowl mix the flour and baking powder together
In another bowl, cream the butter an butter. Add the eggs and vanilla
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture
Making the Chocolate layer:
Whisk sugar and Coco powder together in a bowl
Add boiling water and vailla to the sugar and Coco
Pour the cake batter into the pie crust
Pour the melted chocolate over the cake batter in a swirl
Bake the cake at 375 for about one hour. The cake has been baking for 20 minutes and you can see that the chocolate has left the top of the cake
Just out of the oven. The cake baked for about one hour and 15 minutes because the pie pan was deep.