Smith Island has its own region-specific traditional cuisine. The most famous dish is a locally produced cake featuring 8 to 15 thin layers filled with creme, frosting and/or crushed candy bars. The cake is iced with a cooked chocolate icing. Beginning in the 1800's, Smith Islanders would send these cakes with the watermen on the autumn oyster harvest. The bakers began using fudge instead of buttercream frostings, as cakes frosted with fudge lasted much longer than cakes with other frostings. The cake is often made using a commercial cake mix but with unique additions such as condensed milk. It can also be made from scratch using flour.