On the Road to Winston-Salem, NC and a Recipe for Moravian Sugar Cake
We recently traveled to Winston-Salem in search of what they had to offer in the way of a unique food culture. Located in north central North Carolina, Winston, as it is casually called, is home to traditional Southern ingredients and cooking techniques. Similar to many other cities in the South, their cuisine is influenced by the foods of Africa, the Mediterranean, and Western Europe. However, Winston-Salem is also influenced by Eastern Europe cuisine and the German-Protestant heritage of the Moravians.
Traditional Moravian dress
This group of settlers, who originated from ancient Bohemia and Moravia (in what is the present-day Czech Republic), migrated to Germany and then to Pennsylvania. Bringing their church and people to a 10,000 acre tract of land in this part of North Carolina in 1753 (known as the Wachovia Tract), they created the town of Salem.
Walking through the streets in Old Salem
Miksch House
Traditional wood burning oven
Sightseeing at Old Salem
Dr. Samuel Benjamin Vierling at The Vierling House
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Gwen Pratesi
Gwen Pratesi is a James Beard Foundation Award Finalist in Journalism and an award-winning travel writer. She is the author and owner of PratesiLiving.com with her husband and a regular contributor to the Travel section of U.S. News & World Report. She also freelances for other publications including The Points Guy, USA TODAY, Cruise Critic, Travel + Leisure, Garden & Gun, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Reader's Digest, Forbes Travel Guide, Smarter Travel, TripAdvisor, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine and World Travel Magazine. Her work has also been featured on MSN, Yahoo!, Business Insider, and SheKnows.
Gwen chronicles her love of international travel and experience as a professional home cook on PratesiLiving.com, where she shares the stories of some of the world's most sought-after destinations and cruise lines, highly regarded chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, wine and spirits producers and culinary artisans.
She and her husband are enjoying the coastal lifestyle in Florida with their Tibetan Terrier, Rhythm.
There are so many fabulous places I have never (yet) visited in the US and you seem to discover so many super cool ones… beautiful places with amazing food and drink. And I love seeing all the artisans that are producing great products. I never knew about the Moravians immigrating and settling in the South, that is so cool (as is this living museum!). That Moravian Chicken Pie looks stupendous and I would love the recipe for that but meanwhile I’ll be making this wonderful sugar cake. Scrumptious! I love yeasted cakes like this. Another great post, Gwen!
I also help prepare the Moravian Sugar Cake @ Winkler Bakery in Old Salem. I am one of three bakers there. I am proud of the Sugar Cake that I make and I always try to do my best for our Customers. And this time of year it will get busier and busier for the Holidays. Come by to see us and to purchase one of our Sugar Cakes that was baked in the wood fired oven!
i love it there as well. looks like you had a great time. the sugar cake looks great!
When I was a little girl my mom used to by a New Years pretzel from the Moravian bakery. It was shape like a pretzel with sugar sprinkle on top. We were told to pull a piece off that you wanted and put more sugar on it to make your wish come true. I been looking for this recipe for years. Do you know what I am talking about an can you help me. Thank you for your time
Hi Nina, I have not heard of that custom or a recipe for the pretzel, but I’m glad you at least found the recipe for the cake. Why don’t you look at a Moravian cookbook and see if you can find it there? Good luck. Gwen