I first saw this cake on my friend Deb's Smitten Kitchen web site last year. The recipe is one of her mom's and after some cajoling, Deb was able to wheedle it out of her. I was immediately drawn to Deb’s photo of her chunky, cinnamony, appley creation and I knew I had to make it.
Afterward, as my cake sat on the counter cooling, I marveled at its burnished, rustic beauty and reveled in its heady aroma which reminded me of hot spiced apple cider. Being the impatient person that I am, I couldn’t wait to take a bite and tried to separate the cake from its pan before its time. I ended up with this:
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Yes, people, there really is a reason why they tell you to wait until a cake is completely cooled before attempting to remove it from the pan.
Even though it fell apart, it was still a damn delicious cake, so I decided it deserved another try.
I used a combination of Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and Fuji apples and lots of cinnamon. After the cake was baked, I forced myself to wait until it was completely cooled before unmolding it. That was the hardest part!
My patience was rewarded. This time, I had a gorgeous cake – all in one piece.
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Look at all those lovely, gooey, caramelized apple chunks and specks of cinnamon!
Aren’t you jealous? Don’t you want to run into your kitchen right now and make this cake? It is sooooo good!
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So, what are you waiting for? Here’s the recipe. Go forth and bake!
Deb’s Mom’s Amazing Apple Cake
Ingredients:
6 apples (Deb’s mom uses McIntosh apples. I used a combination of Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and Fuji)
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)
Directions:
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 the 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.
Enjoy!
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