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Mrs. Kitching’s Original Smith Island Cake Smith Island Layer Cake With Traditional Chocolate Icing A beloved Maryland tradition, the official Maryland State Dessert is a standout on any table. With its thin layers of delicate yellow cake each slathered in a decadent schmear of icing, Smith Island cake would be too beautiful to eat… if it weren’t so darned delicious! No one is quite sure where this delicious dessert got its start, but many folks[...]

Deal Island Devil Cream Decadent and delicious, this rich chocolate cake with luscious vanilla cream icing is the pride of Deal Island and the yin to the Smith Island Cake’s yang. Try it once and you’ll know why this traditional favorite never misses an appearance on an Eastern Shore holiday table. Total time: One Hour Serves: 12 Ingredients Deal Island Cake ☐ 4 oz Sweet chocolate ☐ ½ cup boiling water ☐ 4 eggs, separated[...]

Maryland State FlagState Flag: Black and gold quarters (the arms of Lord Baltimore’s family, the Calverts) along with red and white quarters (the arms of his mother’s family, the Crosslands) State Dessert: Smith Island Cake, made by the ladies of Smith Island for years, has achieved national recognition. With impossibly thin layers of cake and icing stacked high, Smith Island cakes are a unique treat State Dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever, a hunting breed with webbed[...]

Blue Crab: The Beautiful Swimmer Easily the icon most often associated with Maryland, the blue crab, whose scientific name Callinectes Sapidus means “savory beautiful swimmer,” is both a staple for locals and a symbol for the rest of the nation. From its most basic preparation to its most refined—using only the choicest jumbo lump meat for crab cakes—blue crab is prized for its delicate, moist texture and sweet flavor. In Maryland, crabs are seasoned and[...]

When you shop along Maryland’s Main Streets, you’re supporting local businesses and the historic properties they steward. If window shopping by foot, dining at new spots, antiquing and collecting art sounds like a great day out, you’ll absolutely adore these Main Street destinations. Shop the Shore in Berlin’s Unique Stores With a population of about 4,900, Berlin is small but packs a lot of charm. This Eastern Shore gem, known for its great jewelry, gift[...]

Native Americans The first inhabitants of Maryland were Paleo-Indians who came more than 10,000 years ago from other parts of North America to hunt mammoth, great bison and caribou. By 1,000 B.C., Maryland had more than 8,000 Native Americans in about 40 different tribes. Most of them spoke Algonquian languages. They grew corn, peas, squash and tobacco. They also hunted, fished and traded with tribes as far away as New York and Ohio. We do[...]