Homemade Apple Cake

Apple cake is one of my favorite things to bake. I actually haven't made one in several years, though. When DH and I were dating, I made apple cakes all the time. It was my specialty, I guess. Back then, I used these tiny, really tart apples that grew on my mama's tree (crab apples, I think they're called). Somehow over the years, I lost my recipe. :( And then I kinda forgot that apple cakes are awesome.

Until last weekend! DH gets a ton of fruit from a local farmer, and he brought home quite the haul of these tart, large green apples recently (not Granny Smith, though). They're not the best just for eating, but I thought they'd be good for cooking.

I'm not sure what came over me on Saturday. I felt horrible from my allergies. I mean, really horrible. But I made myself get up and get some chores done that morning, so I could spend the rest of the day resting. Before lunch, I got the urge to bake something. Maybe I thought it would make me feel better? ha. Anyway, I searched through all our cookbooks until I found a recipe for an apple cake that sounded good.

This recipe came from a Tri County Cook Book (its out local power company co-op):

Apple Walnut Cake
1 1/2 c vegetable oil                    1 tsp. baking soda
3 eggs                                           2 tsp cinnamon 
2 c sugar                                       1/2 tsp. salt
3 c flour                                        1 c black walnuts, chopped        3 c apples, diced

Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla. In separate bowl, sift together sugar, flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add this mixture to the first mixture. Fold in nuts and apples. Batter will be very thick. Pour in tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool approximately 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm, topped with whipped cream, if desired.

We all know that Nikki can't just follow a recipe. I don't make my own up, but I do alter recipes all the time (every time, in fact). In this instance, I hate walnuts (or any kind of nut in my cake!), so obviously they would be left out. I also added some nutmeg, though I didn't measure. I would guess I added maybe a 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.

Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. I baked the cake in a bundt pan, since I don't have a tube pan (but its close enough). Actually, I used my Pampered Chef Stoneware Fluted Pan. I've had that thing for probably 5 years, and never had a successful cake come out of it. They always stick the sides terribly. So I wasn't expecting good results this time, either.

I was pleasantly surprised, though! I guess spraying the heck out of it with Pam did the trick (usually, I coat the pan with vegetable oil, since that's what's recommended). At any rate, my cake came out looking absolutely perfect:

And boy, was it GOOD! I left my apple pieces fairly large, since I really like to be able to taste them. And I put more than 3 cups in there. If I'm gonna have apple cake, I'm gonna have APPLE cake! Everyone loved it. My mama even said it was the best apple cake she'd ever have, and that's saying somethin.

I was worried about it when I put it into the oven. The batter was SUPER thick. I know the recipe said that, but I wasn't prepared for just how thick it was. It was like a dough almost. But as you can see, it rose beautifully, and was nicely moist. I think some butter melted over the top would have made it even better (and I plan on trying that next time - just placing small chunks of butter randomly around the top before putting it into the oven).

Stay tuned, cause this weekend I plan on trying a smoothie recipe. I keep hearing about smoothies and how quick and easy they are for breakfasts, so tomorrow I'm gonna try one. I want to see if its really that easy, and if it keeps me full until lunch. Happy weekend, everyone!