Pennsylvania Dutch Funny Cake with Gooey Chocolate Layer

Method

1. In a large bowl, use a pastry blender (or two forks) to mix the all-purpose flour, salt, cold cubed butter, and cold vegetable shortening until the pieces are about the size of peas. A few larger pea-sized bits are fine. If the blender gets clogged while mixing, use a knife to clear it out.
2. Add ice-cold water 1 tablespoon (tbsp) at a time, stirring with a spatula or your hands, until the dough holds together in a ball and no longer crumbles. If any crumbly bits remain, add the tiniest drip of water to blend them in.
3. Shape the dough into a ball, set it on a lightly floured, clean surface, and cut it in half with a pastry cutter. Flatten each half into a 1″-1 1/2″ thick disc, wrap each one twice in plastic wrap, and chill them in the coldest part of the refrigerator (usually the back) for at least 1 hour.
4. Move the oven rack to the 2nd level mark from the top (just above center) and preheat the oven to 375º F.
5. On a well-floured, clean surface, roll out one of the dough discs (or unroll a store-bought crust) and fit it into one of the 2, 9″ pie plates. Trim and crimp the edges as you like, then return it to the refrigerator while you make the cake and chocolate layers.
6. For the top cake layer: In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour and baking powder together. Set this dry mixture aside.
7. With a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium-high speed and a paddle attachment, beat the granulated sugar and vegetable shortening until smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract until combined.
8. Drop the mixer to low and add the dry mixture and milk in turns. Mix just until combined, then set aside.
9. For the bottom chocolate layer: In a medium bowl, whisk the granulated sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder together.
10. Pour in the boiling water slowly and add the vanilla extract. Keep stirring until the cocoa powder has completely dissolved.
11. Divide the cake batter between the 2 unbaked 9″ crusts, then divide the chocolate mixture over each one. The chocolate sinks during baking to form the thick chocolate layer on the bottom, and it leaves a lovely chocolate swirl on top of the cake!
12. Slide the funny cakes into the oven side by side and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine needed nearly the full 50 minutes. I suggest using an extra-large baking sheet or jelly roll pan to carry them in and out, which makes things much easier!
13. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before serving.

Baker’s notes

• You’ll need two 9-inch pie plates. I recommend the USA Pan Bakeware pie plates or a Pyrex pie plate. If you want something a bit fancier, the Emile Henry 9″ pie dish is worth every penny! If you plan to make a batch, as I did, aluminum pie pans work too.
• This recipe makes two funny cakes, so you can halve it to make just one, or bake both and give one away to a friend!
• After making the homemade pie crust, let it chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour before using it here.
• If homemade crust isn’t your thing, store-bought works just fine!
• I strongly suggest setting both funny cakes on a baking sheet or jelly roll pan before adding the batter and chocolate. It makes moving them from the counter to the oven much easier!
• It may seem odd, but be sure to pour the chocolate layer over the cake batter. The chocolate sinks to the bottom of the pie as it bakes. I find a Pyrex glass measuring cup easiest for this, since you can keep track of how much chocolate goes into each pie.
• If pouring the chocolate over the cake batter seems strange, you can pour it into the unbaked pie shell first and add the cake batter on top. Your funny cake won’t have that pretty swirl of chocolate on top, though.
• Adapted from my Grammy’s recipe and family cookbook.
• Taste of Home’s August/September 2020 issue ran a chocolate funny cake recipe that the Taste of Home test kitchen adapted for deep-dish pie plates. I haven’t tested their version.