March 18, 2011: Apple Spice Cake Recipe

I’ve been pressed into service once again – this time making a baked goodie to sell tomorrow morning at a bake sale for American Indian Christian Mission. I wasn’t sure what I was going to make but I had some granny smith apples that needed to get used up so I settled on his recipe for apple spice cake.

It’s a really dense cake that gets moist when you pour the sauce on top. It reminds me of a rum cake, honestly. Although the recipe calls for brandy, I substituted amaretto, because that’s what I had. I think the almond and apple flavors melded nicely – but now I’m second guessing my choice to make an alcohol-laced cake for a church bake sale. Ah, well, there’s no turning back now!

Here’s the recipe as it was printed in Relish Magazine plus a few small alterations, a la Candy. BTW, the cake looks awful in this photo but looked much better on the plate - it's really not green...

Apple Spice Cake

Cake:
1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 ¼ t. ground cinnamon
½ t. ground cloves
½ t. ground cardamom
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
3 ¼ cups coarsely chopped, peeled and cored apples (such as Cortland, Empire, or Winesap – I used 6 medium granny smith apples)
3 T. brandy (I substituted amaretto, or you could use 1 teaspoon vanilla)

Glaze:
¼ cup butter
2 T. brown sugar
6 T. granulated sugar
3 T. brandy (again, I used amaretto but you could substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla)
2 T. heavy cream (I used half and half since that’s what I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan (or use cooking spray for baking).

Combine oil and sugar (I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer) in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a wire whisk until thick and opaque. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Sift together flour, spices (I just pumpkin pie spice plus a bit extra cinnamon), baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; blend well. Add apples and brandy all at once and stir until apples are evenly distributed.

Pour batter in prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

While cake is baking, make glaze. Melt butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat and stir in sugars. Add brandy and cream; stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

After you’ve plated the cake, poke holes in it all over with a toothpick. Slowly pour the glaze over the top.