Sunday, September 19, 2010

September 19, 2010 - Fall Apples


Love the fall. Love apples. Here's one of my favorite recipes. Last year I made this apple cake while on Washington Island with my friend Carol. Brings back good memories and I promised to get her the recipe. So why not post it and let everyone enjoy it. This is from the Silver Palate cookbook. Maybe next week I'll post a great apple pie recipe.

Chunky Apple Walnut Cake
This makes a very large rich cake so you might want to make a half recipe in a smaller pan if you don't have lots of people to share it with. The glaze is amazing but the cake is excellent without it. But try the glaze the first time out.

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, sifted
1/8 teaspoon of cloves
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted
1 1/4 cups shelled walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)
3 1/4 cups coarse chunks of peeled and cored Rome Beauty apples (or your choice)
3 tablespoons of Calvados or applejack
Apple Cider Glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat vegetable oil and sugar until thick and opaque. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together all-purpose flour, cloves, cinnamon, mace, baking soda, and salt, then stir in whole-wheat flour. Add to oil and egg mixture and mix until well blended.
4. Add walnuts, apple chunks and Calvados all at once and stir batter until pieces are evenly distributed.
5. Pour batter into a greased 10-inch round cake pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let cake rest for 10 minutes, then unmold and pour glaze over warm cake, or cut cake and pour glaze over slices.
10 - 12 portions

Apple Cider Glaze
4 tablespoons of sweet butter
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
6 tablespoons of granulated sugar
3 tablespoons of Calvados or applejack
4 tablespoons of sweet cider
2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons of heavy cream

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in both sugars.
2. Add remaining ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and cook for 4 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Pour while still warm over warm cake.
Makes 1 1/2 cups of glaze

Enjoy in front of a fire on a brisk fall evening. Cheers. m

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