It feels so strange to acknowledge this but until Saturday I hadn’t set foot in my kitchen in over a month. A MONTH. That has got to be a new record. It has been a crazy summer full of unexpected surprises that have been literally making it impossible to even think about cooking. I’ve heard other equally enthusiastic cooks describe similar situations but I never thought it would be possible that anything could affect me in this way. Oh boy was I wrong. And I’m not out of the woods yet so I apologize for the light posts which may continue for just a few more weeks while I process this ciaos, everything should be back to normal though by September. Fingers crossed.
So to mark this strange month of no cooking I decided I needed to bake a cake. Not a fancy cake either but a cake that can be eaten for breakfast lunch and dinner for as long as it can last in our current home cooking deprived house. This ended up to be 2 days which was one day more than I expected. In situations like this I do not have time to mess around looking through recipes as I normally would so I did the only natural thing and turned to Dorie Greenspan. Lets be honest here, if you’re looking for a no fail recipe, one that whether you’ve made it before or not you know it will not disappoint, Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours is the best possible reference.
This apple cake is so easy and really amazing. It’s the perfect kind of coffee cake, not too heavy and extremely moist which also makes it an idea breakfast, if cake for breakfast is you thing. The combination of apple butter and grated apple gives it an incredibly deep apple flavor, so if you can try not to substitute then apple butter for just regular apple sauce, I don’t think you would achieve the same result.
Apple Cake – Adapted from Dorie Greenspan
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup store-bought apple butter, spiced or plain
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and grated
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
Center a rack in you oven and preheat to 350 c. Butter and flour your bundt pan and set aside.
In a Large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, salt and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next. Once the eggs are mixed in add the apple butter and don’t panic if the mixture curdles this is completely normal. Add in the grated apple and mix until incorporated.
Set your mixer to a low speed and add in you dry ingredients. Mix only until JUST incorporated, you could alternatively also mix the dry ingredients in by hand. Last add in the chopped nuts and gently fold into the batter.
Pour the batter evenly into your prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes to and hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 -10 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.
If you have the will power Dorie recommends covering the cake letting it stand over night to allow the flavors to develop. She also glazes the cake the following day with icing sugar and some lemon juice. I skipped the glaze.
