Yesterday, the temperature topped out around here at 86 degrees, F. The humidity was so high that when I stepped outside from my air conditioned digs, my sunglasses promptly fogged right up, forcing me to stumble my way to my car. That’s muggy, people! Now I ask you – is that any way for Autumn to behave? It’s almost November, for crying out loud!
One of the few clues that that it is indeed Fall exists in the produce aisle of my local supermarket. The presence of orange-fleshed squash, crisp, juicy apples and those cheesy, fake “Autumn” leaves are my telltale signs that the season has changed. Even then, it’s hard to shift seasonal gears when the store is flooded with tourists in swimsuits, Bermuda shorts and guayabera shirts.
I compensate by turning my a/c down really low and padding around the house in sweaters and big, wooly socks. Pathetic, isn’t it? Another way I console myself about this situation is to cook and bake warm, spicy things, using many of the aforementioned Fall fruits and vegetables. This lovely apple cake is one of them.
I first saw this cake on the Smitten Kitchen web site last year. 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:
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 yesterday 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.
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!
So, what are you waiting for? Here’s the recipe. Go forth and bake!
Deb’s Mom’s Apple Cake
from Smitten Kitchen
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!
Filed Under: Baking, Cakes and Cupcakes, Desserts, Recipes, Uncategorized
What are YOU Serving for Thanksgiving?
TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps
On October 29, 2009 at 8:12pm, The Duo Dishes said...
Great idea to use a combination of apples for this cake. Together, it must’ve been good. The funky warm weather is here in LA too. So strange seeing as how Halloween is tomorrow, and it’s going to be 80 during the day. At least it’s cool enough at night to make the baking still fun!
On October 29, 2009 at 8:34pm, Joy said...
Susan this looks so darn good. I’m all for apple-anything. Fall makes me fall in love all over again with apples with cinnamon.
Gosh, that’s me right there…the impatient baker. Anything on the recipe that says “wait” makes me suffer. haha.
On October 29, 2009 at 9:37pm, Emily Rose said...
dear god, this looks delicious! It is hot and muggy here too- I am also refusing to accept the summer weather and have been making fall food! I have to make this cake- I love cakes with tons of fruit in them!
On October 29, 2009 at 9:52pm, laura said...
This is so beautiful! I wish we had warmer weather but oh no we are 60 mph winds and 25 degrees…brrrr
On October 30, 2009 at 5:40pm, Susan said...
Want to trade places for a week? 😉
On October 29, 2009 at 10:26pm, Ronda said...
OMG That cake looks delicious! I’m making it tomorrow. I have everything, just too tired right now! Perfect Fall cake! Thank-you
XOXO
On October 29, 2009 at 11:15pm, Wendy said...
I did exactly the same thing when I made this recipe! It was just toooo tempting when it came out of the oven. 😀 Your final product looks absolutely perfect!
On October 29, 2009 at 11:19pm, Ciaochowlinda said...
You are tenacious to make this cake a second time, but it looks beautiful and delicious. Even broken up , the first version looks great to me.
On October 30, 2009 at 5:41pm, Susan said...
The first one ended up as the base for a very delicious bread pudding.
On October 29, 2009 at 11:53pm, Rosa said...
Wow, that cake looks mighty scrumptious! It must taste so good…
Cheers,
Rosa
On October 30, 2009 at 7:24am, nina said...
Oh my hat, this looks so good, Susan. I see a drizzle of cream on there!!!!!!
On October 30, 2009 at 7:37am, carmen said...
This is one of my favorite recipes since Deb posted it! I’ve made it so many times and it always impresses.
On October 30, 2009 at 7:38am, Bellini Valli said...
I’d have a hard time waiting too Susan. This one is for the records!!!!!!!
On October 30, 2009 at 7:40am, Jen @ MaplenCornbread said...
What an incredible cake!!! The best is that its one from within the family, those always are the best!
On October 30, 2009 at 7:53am, Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...
Susan, thanks for reminding me how much I love living in a part of Rhode Island called Apple Valley! Really, the land all around here used to be apple orchards, and there are still a handful of orchards that grow apples and pears, and make their own cider. I’m putting this cake on my cakes-to-try list.
On October 30, 2009 at 5:43pm, Susan said...
How lucky you are! I’ll bet this cake would be even more fabulous with just picked apples!
On October 30, 2009 at 8:49am, grace said...
i know i couldn’t wait until it cooled before digging in, so i guess it’s a good thing i don’t mind some crumbliness. meh, that just makes it easier to shovel into my mouth.
On October 30, 2009 at 9:46am, Krystle said...
Oh my goodness! That looks so amazing! Im not sure I could have waited either!
On October 30, 2009 at 10:42am, Dawn said...
ooh this looks fantastic! now that we’re in ohio, its amazing that fall actually is a season that florida weather somehow skipped however, but you do have beautiful springs
On October 30, 2009 at 5:44pm, Susan said...
We do have beautiful weather here. I just wish we had some variety!
On October 30, 2009 at 11:28am, Mimi said...
I am so happy. When I was a girl I used to make this cake with my grandmother. She died 30 years ago and no one in the family seems to have the recipe. I loved the apples and orange juice, it’s such a moist delicious cake. Thanks for the recipe.
Mimi
On October 30, 2009 at 5:45pm, Susan said...
Oh, Mimi! I’m so happy that you were able to find this. I hope you enjoy making it.
On October 30, 2009 at 1:15pm, Lucy said...
This apple cake looks gorgeous - I love the big juicy chunks of apple! Looks like a perfect Autumn cake 😀
On October 30, 2009 at 2:34pm, Maybe said...
I’m glad you made a second cake so we can see how gorgeous it is ! I’m definitely gonna try this recipe !
On October 30, 2009 at 4:21pm, Marini said...
How long did you wait the second time you made the cake before you removed it from the pan?
On October 30, 2009 at 5:47pm, Susan said...
I let the cake cool on a rack for a good 30 minutes. The pan was still a little warm on the bottom, but the cake felt cool to the touch.
On October 30, 2009 at 5:07pm, Natasha - 5 Star Foodie said...
A delicious apple cake, I love the different apples here!
On October 30, 2009 at 9:26pm, Rita said...
Oooh…this looks good. I’m gonna try this. The ingredients and instructions doesn’t look complicated
Thks so much for sharing.
On October 30, 2009 at 9:43pm, Jennifer said...
Delicious! AND stunning!!!!!!
On October 30, 2009 at 9:50pm, Veron said...
It’s really time to make another apple dessert! This looks delish!
On October 31, 2009 at 3:38am, Ivy said...
Happy Halloween Susan. Hope you have a great time. I am sure I will be thinking of this recipe all day today. I try not to make dessert very often but this is a real temptation.
On October 31, 2009 at 10:21am, Caitlin said...
Jealous is an understatement. I WANT that cake like, RIGHT NOW. *bookmarked*
On October 31, 2009 at 8:32pm, Beverly said...
This is an excellent recipe. Very easy to make and absolutely delicious. I didn’t have any orange juice so I substituted apple juice and it worked fine. I’ll be making this one again and again 😀
On October 31, 2009 at 9:16pm, megan said...
Oh gosh that looks good. I might just have to try this one. Bookmarked!
On October 31, 2009 at 10:33pm, Stephanie @ Geezees said...
WOW…that looks so good!
On November 01, 2009 at 10:46am, Kevin said...
That cake looks so good! I really like those huge chunks of apple!
On November 01, 2009 at 6:48pm, The Runaway Spoon said...
I have been making my Apple Pie Bar recipes for years and posted the recipe on my site. But I have been looking for some new baked goods with apples and this looks perfect.
On November 03, 2009 at 4:13pm, ingrid said...
That is a beauty! Thanks for sharing…I don’t frequent Smitten Kitchen much so I hadn’t seen it.
~ingrid
On November 21, 2009 at 1:15am, mahek said...
hi
I discovered your site today , and i am so glad i did …. you are doing a wonderful job with your site and its a pleasure to view as well as read…
I am looking forward to reading your blog A TO Z will keep in touch
This seems to be a great recipe will give it a try soon….
take care
mahek
On December 02, 2009 at 7:10am, rêves de tables said...
Your recipes look just great and really tasty. Thank you for this beautiful and delighted time I spent through your blog.
On November 18, 2011 at 2:06am, Ruby Syska said...
I’m going to try this for Thanksgiving. I have been longing to find a recipe similar to a desert that was served in a San Juan Island coffee shop I visited. It was a chunky, spicy, moist apple cake with a creamy maple frosting. Maybe this recipe can be manipulated into this cake I’ve been dreaming about.
On March 07, 2012 at 12:36pm, annabelle said...
i’ve done this three times now, just popped it in for the third time, thank you it’s lovely! and i found it by googling pictures of apple cake, yours was the best picture, and mine came out just as good.
On September 05, 2013 at 5:06pm, Nikki said...
Has anyone making this cake tried using a bundt pan and reversing the order of layers? Starting with apples first so that when you flip it out of the pan the apples end up on top? If so, how did it turn out, any problems? I’m wanting to make this recipe in a bundt pan, but don’t want to waste my time if the cake doesn’t come out right.
On February 24, 2015 at 3:50pm, Alice lewis said...
My husband is a fabulous cook and baker ,this am I said I could go for an apple cake, any ideas’ well he made this today in a bundt pan he left it in the oven while he went fishing so I took it out and turned it out on a plate looks great! Can not eat it yet till he comes back later it looks sooooo good thanks for sharing your receipts!
On April 14, 2015 at 10:34am, Pamela said...
Great blog! Loved reading your introduction. I am very excited about finding other recipes here. Meanwhile I am going to make the apple cake. I am something of a baker myself and knew when I read the ingredients that this was the one for me. Can’t wait to taste it later today. LYK
On April 07, 2016 at 1:34pm, Natalia said...
This looks amazing! Look forward to my first attempt tomorrow!
Can I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil ? or butter?
Thank you!
N