College Cooking: Spiced Apple Cake

In my family, apple spice cakes are a staple during the fall and holiday seasons. They always invoke that warm, loving feeling created by the holidays…not to mention they make the kitchen smell amazing! This recipe is very easy and does not require any complicated kitchen skills.

On an important note, make sure to use baking apples such as honey crisp or granny smith. These apples will stay intact while baking and not turn to mush. An easy way to test your apple is to place a cut up apple in a small pan with a little bit of water. Cook this on high for about 10 minutes. If at the end they are soft but still whole pieces, then they are good for baking. if they come out like mush, it’s better to eat them raw or turn them in to applesauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples (about 3 cups)
  
• 2 cups flour
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• ½ cup milk at room temperature
  
• 1 cup butter melted
  
• 4 eggs at room temperature
  
• ½ tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 tsp ginger
  
• 1 tsp clove
  
• ½ cup nuts (optional)
  

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, clove and salt until homogeneous

3. In a separate bowl mix together the melted butter, eggs and milk. Again, mix until homogeneous

4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients together 5. Peel and cut up the apples into small chunks and add into the batter

6. (optional) Add chopped nuts here as well 7. Grease cake pan(s) and pour batter until about halfway full

8. Bake for about 30 minutes in standard 9-inch round baking pan, adjust time depending on pan used 9. Take out of oven and let cool completely 10. Dress with powdered sugar or glaze

11. Enjoy