Greetings! With much rejoicing and a good appetite, I am excited to welcome the apple season! Primed by the early apples, we eagerly await such old—or soon-to-be—friends as the Winecrisp, Reinette Simerenko, and, last but not least, the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush is a versatile variety, delicious sautéed and baked as well as eaten right out of the bowl. A favorite recipe of my family’s is an apple cake, in which Gold Rush apples can provide the staple ingredient.
Apple Cake Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups chopped unpeeled apples, preferably a mix of some hard-breaking and soft-breaking (I would make this a heaping three cups)
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp. soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon (or 3 tsp., if you’re a cinnamon hog like I am)
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (approx. – I think heaping is DELICIOUS. Works toasted or untoasted, coarse chopped or fine ground, or in any combinations.)
Cooking Procedure:
- Grease and flour (or spray) Bundt pan
- Oven to 350 degrees
- Mix eggs, oil, sugar, and cinnamon
- In separate bowl, mix flour, salt, soda
- Quickly, gently, and thoroughly fold the wet and dry mixtures into the wet bowl, adding nuts and apples
- Fill pan(s) with batter, leaving about ½ inch of clearance in the top, and place in oven
- Cook for 45-60 mins—best when a bit crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside! Can be dusted with powdered sugar for festivity.
Feel free to experiment with this recipe, especially with the apple, nut, and cinnamon proportions. It is scrumptious hot out of the oven, although the flavors have melded better by the second day. Apple cake can be made in various sizes of muffin tins and loaf pans as well as Bundt pans—all of these freeze excellently and can be given as gifts, baked in batches, and enjoyed throughout the year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!
