Apple Cake

This past fall I had an abundance of apples to cook with. My mother-in-law has an apple tree that was on overload for some reason. She would go and pick the apples and then bring me a GIANT bucket to cook with. I think I tried every single apple recipe on the planet! I made applesauce, apple butter, apple pie, apple tarts, and this amazing apple cake- all in a 4 week time period. Looking back it seems like I was on a mission to make apples as unhealthy as possible. Even though this cake won't make it on any "diet" menus- it was my absolute favorite from the apple cooking bonanza.

This recipe came from the Taste of Home website. You can link to it here. My Mom had given me a magazine subscription from Taste of Home a while back and I loved it. I always find their recipes to be "normal", in a good way. Simple, down to earth, my-kids-will-actually-eat-this recipes. I would make this cake for any party, a birthday, or just because you have a ton of apples! Its very dense and very rich with a layer of cheesecake ribboned throughout and a brown sugar/praline frosting. Mmmmm.... I might need to go make this again.

~Wendy

Apple Cake

Author: Wendy

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Cake


• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened


• 2 cups sugar, divided


• 4 eggs


• 1 c. canola oil


• 2 c. all-purpose flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 2 tsp ground cinnamon


• 1 tsp salt


• 1/4 tsp baking soda


• 2 c. chopped peeled tart apples


• 1 c. shredded carrots


• 1/2 c. chopped pecans (or walnuts)


• Praline Icing


• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar


• 1/4 c. butter, cubed


• 2 Tbsp 2% milk


• 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


• 1/4 c. chopped pecans, toasted

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in 1 egg; set aside.


2. In a large bowl, beat oil with remaining sugar and eggs until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda; gradually beat into oil mixture until blended. Stir in the apples, carrots and pecans.


3. Transfer half of the apple batter to a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan; layer with cream cheese mixture and remaining apple batter.


4. Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.


5. In a large saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter and milk to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with pecans.

Notes

If you don't have a bundt pan you can make this in an angel-food cake pan. Just be sure the sides are tight and won't leak. The first time I made this I used an angel-food cake pan and lined it with greased foil to be sure it wouldn't seep through the sides.

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