Apple Cake

Happy Spring to you all!! We have finally gotten something the resembles spring here in DC. The hubby and I took advantage of the great weather and spent Sunday afternoon at the National Zoo. It was a busy day at the zoo but the weather was a perfect balance of breezy and warm. The animals seemed happy that spring was here as well. I was able to capture some of their fun.

I had decided to make this apple cake sometime last week but I wasn’t able to get around to making it until this weekend. The hubby and I  had a full house this past week and while I got to show off some of my kitchen skills I wasn’t really able to spend as much time in the kitchen as I normally do.  My oldest brother drove down from Syracuse, NY with his wife and their three adorable children (+ one best friend). I was so happy to spend time with them they light up my life! Every time we are together I laugh to no end and reminisce about our childhood, sometimes I even steal away to recapture some of my childhood through them. How can you not love those faces?

Anyhow, spending time with them made me want to do another one of my grandmother’s recipes, I guess spending time with family gets you thinking about your history and the story it tells. I feel like I have set out on this mission to discover something in these recipes or in her notes. I am not sure what it is I am looking for but I am sure I will get there.

I picked the apple cake because I am really into apples right now, haha strange right? I know it’s not really the apple season but for some reason I have been drawn to recipes with apples in them. For passover I made a matzo apple kugel with apples. I guess I should have blogged that, oops!

For this recipe I used Braeburn apples,  and  can I just say that they were so perfect! They are just the right balance of tart and sweet. It didn’t hurt that you coat them in cinnamon and sugar. I really had to restrain myself from eating the apples right out of the bowl.

I am also in to substituting things in recipes to make them just a bit healthier. Ok, in all fairness this cake is probably still not healthy but I made an attempt to reduce the calories. I should get some credit though because with baking I typically stick to the book. I have this fear of adding an ingredient  that is not listed and turning a cake into a cement block – not really sure how that is a rational fear. The best thing is to find out what things can be substituted for certain ingredients. There are tons of resources out there for you to use but when in doubt Google it!

The interesting thing about Apple Cake is that this is also a favorite in Jewish households. Maybe Grandma had a love for Jewish cooking, maybe she had a close friend who was Jewish, or maybe she just liked apple cake. Either way, it was pretty cool to stumble upon this recipe that made my husband excited. Maybe it brought him back to his childhood.

I should warn you that I made some changes to the assembly of the cake. Don’t fret, it has no bearing on the actual way the cake turns out. I wanted to play with the visuals of the cake, I thought it might be more interesting. You might not agree. I used sliced apples instead of chunks which is what Grandma suggests. I have this cool apple peeler that I just love using and it conveniently slices the apple in to uniform pieces. Why do more than you need to right?

Apple Cake

Serves 6-8 (depending on how you slice it)

Ingredients:
5-6 Peeled Apples* (Sliced or Diced)
4 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups Turbinado (Raw) Sugar
4 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
1/4 Cup Orange Juice
1 Cup Apple Sauce -or- 1 Cup Oil
3 Cups Flour
3 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
2 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla

Instructions:
Coat your apple slices in the cinnamon and turbinado (raw) sugar. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 350. In a mixer add your eggs and sugar. Mix on low-speed until combined. To your eggs and sugar add your orange juice and apple sauce. Mix until blended. In a separate bowl sift your flour, baking powder and salt. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients in batches. Mix on medium, stopping in between to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once your dry ingredients have been mixed in add your vanilla and do one more turn of the mixer.

Coat a tube pan or bundt pan with flour or butter. Fill your pan with half of the cake batter. Layer your apple slices or chunks on top** then finish off with remaining batter. Bake in the oven for an hour or an hour and a half. The cake is done when you insert a toothpick or knife and it comes out clean.

*It is recommended to use an apple that is good in baking or has a sweet nature.
**If you want to you can add half of the apples then remaining batter, finish off with the remaining apples. This way is better when you use a tube pan instead of bundt pan since the top is really the bottom.