Thanksgiving Dessert: Hartford Election Cake
New England Legends Podcast
Jeff Belanger
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 424 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Hartford, Connecticut, for their Thanksgiving dessert. Hartford Election Cake is a massive confection that dates back to 1796 when America was holding its first contested presidential election. Voting used to be a big event with parties and banquets and a HUGE cake as a reward. The people of Hartford made an 80-pound cake following the recipe of Amelia Simmons. Over time, election day became less of an event, but Thanksgiving got bigger. So the people of Connecticut moved their favorite cake over to Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Oh, Ray, that was delicious. |
| 0:06.7 | Yes, indeed. |
| 0:07.6 | I look forward to Thanksgiving dinner all year. |
| 0:09.7 | The turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, I can't get enough. |
| 0:14.6 | You know, I purposely have almost nothing for breakfast each Thanksgiving morning. |
| 0:18.2 | Me too. |
| 0:19.1 | It's such a great feast with family and friends. |
| 0:21.7 | So as full as we are, you think we should move on a dessert? Oh, absolutely. Okay, then hop in the car, Ray, |
| 0:27.7 | and call all your friends to join us. We're heading to Connecticut to eat an 80-pound dessert |
| 0:33.0 | called Hartford Election Cake. |
| 0:44.7 | Okay. called Hartford Election Cake. Hey, I'm Jeff Belanger, and welcome to episode 424 of the New England Legends podcast. |
| 0:50.5 | This is our Thanksgiving special. |
| 0:52.2 | Welcome. I'm Ray Osher. |
| 0:53.7 | Happy Thanksgiving to all of you |
| 0:55.6 | legendarians. We release this episode early as we do every Thanksgiving, so you can listen as you |
| 1:00.6 | drive to grandmother's house or your own holiday feast. We're so thankful that you're riding along |
| 1:05.0 | with us. This podcast is part of a large community of legend seekers who are always looking |
| 1:09.8 | for the weird and unusual in New England. |
| 1:13.0 | We can't do it without you. So please be sure to subscribe to our podcast wherever you get your podcast. |
| 1:18.2 | It's free and then you won't miss a thing. We'd also be grateful if you tell a few friends about our show and post a review for us. |
| 1:25.0 | We'll go looking for Hartford election Cake right after this word from our sponsor. |
| 1:33.2 | All right, Jeff, so we're heading to Hartford, Connecticut to eat an 80-pound cake? |
... |
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