Hey! Check it:
Yes, I decided to repeat my apple-stacking accomplishments from my favorite Apple Crumble post. There were several non-believers last time. All, you taped them together, right? Taped them? Come on. This time I’m giving myself extra points for 1) variety of apples and 2) seemingly incompatible shapes and sizes of apples. What I’m saying to you is that I have long thought I was the most accomplished apple stacker of my immediate friend group (/generation?), and I have only gotten better.
But anyway. Apples are wonderful. Can we just talk about that for a second? The fall is wonderful and apples are a big part of why. Apple cider. Apple butter. Apple sauce with pork and dumplings. Apple cinnamon oatmeal. But also? Just apples. By themselves. Crisp white flesh and bright reds and greens. I just love them.
I don’t know how to describe to you the way apple-y baked goods make me feel. Warm. At home. Safe. Spiced. There’s no way to categorize the feeling. It’s just a nice feeling, and there are so many recipes I love with all my heart and it’s impossible to choose my favorite way to bake an apple. I could do a Top 5, High Fidelity-style. In no particular order: 1) Apple Dumplings 2) Apple Crumble 3) Apple Pie 4) Apple Streudel and 5) this Apple Cake. Those are 5 fucking phenomenal items, and I hope to bring them all to you at some point. I’ve already told you about the crumble, so let’s move on to this cake.
It’s moist. It’s chock-full of cinnamon-y apples. It’s crisp on the top and then densely delicious underneath. It’s really the best apple cake. The dough around the apples soaks up all that delicious apply juice. It soaks it up and gets dense and flavorful and LOVELY.
It’s the perfect thing if you live in San Francisco but grew up in the northeast. It’s the perfect thing when you wake up longing for crisp breezes and rustling leaves but you are too poor to buy a plane ticket home until Thanksgiving. It’s the perfect thing if one of your favorite feelings is when the underside of your nose is a little chilly and then you warm it up by sticking it over a mug of hot spiced apple cider or hot cocoa.
Plus it’s pretty straightforward. Not much of a looker, but simple and sweet. Come to think of it: it makes me feel safe and warm, it’s not a hassle, it’s straightforward, and it’s only a little bit nutty–in the good way. I think what I’m saying here is that if this apple cake were a human I’d want it to be the future father of my children. And those, my friends, are the sad and cynical thoughts of a single 26 year old lass who spends too much time baking. You’re welcome.
Deb’s Mom’s Apple Cake
yeah, it’s from SmittenKitchen. Sorry.
6 apples, Mom uses McIntosh apples (i used a mixture of granny smith, honeycrisp, and gala)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan. Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Toss with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spread half of apples over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean.
Kat in the Kitch 