One of my husband’s and my most enjoyable outdoor activities when our New England autumn arrives is to go to an orchard to pick apples. We both grew up in families that went apple picking and to this day, its a welcome adventure. Even better now, is going with our grown children and their little ones.
Baking with apples is one of my favorite things to do. The entire process, from picking apples, to peeling, coring and slicing them, is one of fall’s most enticing gifts. The scent of apples alone is delightful. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and the smell of cooking apples becomes enchanting, leading me back to the orchard…
Bill and I arrive at the apple orchard early on a crisp fall day. The autumn sun is still climbing across a cool blue sky. Heavy dew is beaded on matted grass in the field where rows of apple trees stand. On the cusp of a killing frost, yet still saturated with life, the pulse of the orchard is beating in the chill rouse of the day. The droning buzz of bees, drunk with apple juice, permeates the air. The dank smell of decaying leaves and grass mingles with the smell of apples in the warming air. Migrating birds squawk and dive, pecking at apples on the ground and in the trees taking full advantage of a meal on the fly. A portly woodchuck waddles off in a hurry when we threaten it’s space. Occasionally we see a deer watching us from a distance, waiting it’s turn at the apples on the ground.
Families scatter about the orchard. We hear the chirpy voices of children, some close, some far away, as they run down the rows of trees, searching for apples. We listen to the warning voices of parents cautioning their youngsters to the perils of bees, poison ivy and eating too many apples!
Carefully navigating among the drops on the ground, some of which are rotting, Bill and I search tree branches for the biggest, reddest, juiciest apples to put in our baskets. We each keep an eye out for the best of the best to try. The sun is warming the orchard and we remove our jackets. We search for a dry spot in the grass and throw them down to sit on while we share the apples we have picked for tasting. Deciding which kind we want more of, we get up and fill our baskets to the brim. With sticky fingers we trudge slowly out of the orchard with pounds of apples for eating, baking and making into sauce.
And, without fail, the baking begins as soon as I’m home in my kitchen. I have been making this apple cake for years. I don’t even remember where the original recipe came from. Like my father used to do, I cut it out of a paper or magazine years ago. I have (as I tend to do with all the recipes I use) tweaked the ingredients to my liking and, this is the final version I’ve used for years.
This recipe freezes very well. I bake it in a Bundt pan or loaf pans. It comes out perfectly every time I make it into a cake or into loaves.
I make this recipe with chunks of fresh apple and a lot of walnuts. Pecans work well too, use either, but not both. Feel free to add raisins. Occasionally, I will add a 1/4 cup of diced dried apricots.
As with any baked goods, always use pure extracts. The rich flavor they add is unbeatable by any imitation.
Decide which pan(s) you are going to make this recipe in, one Bundt cake pan or two 9 x 5 loaf pans.
Peel, core, and dice into small chunks, three large baking apples (3 cups…a bit over is fine). Cortland, Rome, Empire or Ida Red. A softer apple makes this recipe super moist and the apples are not crunchy. Granny Smith apples do not work well here…
Put the prepared apples close to your mixer. Grease your Bundt pan or your two loaf pans. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
To your mixing bowl add:
1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup of light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of grape seed oil (or canola oil)
Blend the sugars and the oil until just blended. Then add:
3 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Beat the eggs and vanilla extract into the sugar and oil until well blended.
Add:
3 cups of prepared apples
1 1/4 cups of roughly chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup of raisins (optional)
Blend all these ingredients together until well mixed, scraping the bowl at least once.
Lastly, add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. Sift together:
3 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of allspice
Mix until the dry ingredients are just blended. Using a spatula, scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl well and finish mixing by hand until you are sure all the ingredients are completely blended. The batter will be thick.
Using the spatula, evenly fill the Bundt pan or the loaf pans. Bake the Bundt for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a knife blade inserted into the middle comes out clean. Bake the loaf pans for 55 to 60 minutes or again, until a knife blade inserted into the middle of the loaves comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Gently remove from the pan(s) and cool completely. When completely cooled, dust the cake or loaves with powdered sugar or vanilla powder. Cinnamon sugar works too!
Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream. Either way, it doesn’t last long so my advice is to make sure you get the biggest slice. If not, go back for more!
Many Blessings…