Food on the Hill: Apple Cake

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on October 14, 2014
- 3:35 pm

Food on the Hill

By FELICIA ORTH

Editor’s note: We are pleased to announce that longtime Los Alamos resident and local home cook Felica Orth has taken over writing the weekly ‘Food on the Hill’ column from Sue York. York recently retired from writing the column after sharing her delicious recipes with our readers for more than two years.

This Week’s Recipe:

Apple Cake

Photo by Felicia Orth

Fall usually brings multitudes of fresh, crisp apples. Delicious eaten from the hand, chopped into salads, simmered into apple butter or pressed into cider, fresh apples also make a great cake. Dense, moist, and warmly spiced, this cake is unusual in the high ratio of fruit to batter. Sometimes referred to as fresh apple bread, the basic recipe is an old one, and easily multiplied. It serves 16, but folks usually look for a second piece.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground coriander or ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups white or brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups apples, diced (I use organic Granny Smith and do not peel them, but any apple will do)

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Dice apples to about this size. Photo by Felicia Orth

Preparation

Dice the apples and then preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease or butter 2 loaf pans, or (my preference at this altitude) one rectangular baking dish.
Whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, spices, salt, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in flour just until mixed.
Fold in the apples and walnuts until the batter just coats them evenly.
Pour into the prepared dish or pans and bake 60 minutes, until center is set.
Cool and serve.

Apple Cake

Photo by Felicia Orth