Old Salem Moravian Sugar Cake

In my pile of old recipe clippings is this copy of a handwritten recipe for a sweet Moravian yeast bread made from mashed potatoes, with a brown sugar and cinnamon topping. I discovered that Moravia was a medieval kingdom for a land now part of the Czech Republic. Interestingly, underneath the recipe is written,  "from Old Salem, N.C." 

So I looked for a Moravian sugar cake recipe online and found one attributed to the oldest bakery in America, the Winkler bakery in Old Salem, N.C. But the online recipe wasn't the same--it used instant mashed potato flakes and it didn't use cake yeast. This one may be more authentic.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup lard
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed potatoes
• 1 cup potato water
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 cake of yeast
• 6-8 cups of flour (to make a soft dough)
• butter, brown sugar and cinnamon for topping
• thick clotted cream

1. Cream butter and lard.
2. Beat in eggs.
3. Add unsalted mashed potatoes, potato water, salt and yeast softened in 1/4 cup warm water.
4. Add flour and combine to make a soft dough.
5. Cover with a dishcloth and let rise 2-3 hours.
6. Pat out in greased baking pans and let rise again.
7. Punch holes over top and fill with bits of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
8. Drop clotted cream lightly over top.
9. Bake in preheated 400 degree F oven 20 minutes or until brown.