Apple Cake Perfection

This apple cake recipe is the best goodie I’ve baked up in a while. Using fresh apples, this cake is super moist and perfect for an afternoon break.

Apple Cake Perfection

Ingredients:

3/4 cup con oil

2 eggs

1 and 2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups apples that have been peeled and diced

Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 10×10 (inches) pan and line with parchment paper.

What do:

In an electic mixer or with a hand mixer, combine the oil and eggs. Then add in the sugar and vanilla.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, soda and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. This batter is quite thick. Don’t worry. Next, fold in the diced apples. The apples will give the cake batter more moisture.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and spread to the corners. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool and cut into 16 squares.

The top of this apple cake has a crunchy top. I used Honey Crisp apples and didn’t diced them finely. I like a little chunk in my apple cake. If you would like to add chopped walnuts, go for it.

Crunchy top and chunks of apples

Take a break Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.

Wishing For Cooler Weather

August drags on. My next statement is a given: it’s hot! Where I am not wishing for winter weather, cooler temps would be nice.

Inside is where I’ll be found today. In the kitchen, baking an apple cake. Digging around in the gadget drawer for something else the other day, I found the apple corer my former mother-in-law gave me a few years back. Seeing the  Pampered Chef gadget made me want apple cake. So, I’m spending Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.

The apple corer is a handy little thing to have: makes preparing apples for recipes a whole lot easier.

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Put the sharp tool on the blossom end of the apple and push straight down. A plunger inside the gadget makes dispensing the core easy. Simple, simple.

Cake’s in the oven and I think I better check it.  I wrote Miss Hudy’s Apple Cake last year. That’s the recipe I am using today. But I didn’t peel the apples like Mrs. Hudy says to do. No reason, really. I just didn’t feel like peeling apples today.

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Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.

Trying To Spark An Appetite

Not only am I recovering from the flu, my mother is getting over pneumonia. We have both been wiped out, no energy and neither of us has had much of an appetite. Mom says she’s hungry, but half way through her meals she tells me that she just doesn’t feel like eating.

So, tonight I’m cooking one of my favorite side dishes on her, to try to spark her appetite. Apples, butter, honey, cinnamon, pecans and raisins stewed down till the apples are tender. Great with pork or chicken. I sometimes top my oatmeal with this simple side.

Keep your fingers crossed that Mom cleans her plate.

Stewed Apples w/ raisins and pecans

Ingredients:

3 medium Gala apples, cored and cut into even pieces

5 pats of butter

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons raisins

2 tablespoons pecans

What to do:

Sauté everything in a  small skillet over medium heat. Once the butter melts, turn the fire down to low and cover. Stir every few minutes; won’t take long for the apples to soften. This makes a light sauce that’s great over pork chops. Tasty sitting next to a buttery biscuit, too. If you’re not a fan of raisins or nuts, just omit them.

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Place everything in sauté pan. Cook over medium heat till butter melts, then turn fire on low and cover.

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Great as a supper side or topping a buttery biscuit.

Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.