Apple Spice Cake

September flew by and October was here before I could say boo! .. but was it really October?

The thermometer sure didn't agree .. we were basking in upper 20Cs (upper 70Fs) and complete sunshine without a cloud in the sky.  But the apples say fall. They've all been harvest .. and wow, what an improvement from last year. We had oodles, and we've received more as gifts from friends with abundant gardens: Quince, Pears, more Apples and fresh Walnuts - lovely!

So I confess .. there are no pictures .. the cake is gone. But wow, it was gorgeous - surely the best apple cake I've made in the last couple of years.

You'd like the recipe? Well that's easy, it can be found here. Yes, it's my staple carrot cake recipe. Just replace the shredded carrots for roughly chopped apples - I even leave the skin on. For seasoning this time I just used a teaspoon of ground nutmeg, but you can experiment too .. any combo of cinnamon, allspice and / or nutmeg work well. But don't over do it, I think the success this time was down to the wonderful flavor of the apples coming through without an overwhelming amount spice.

One thing that changes too is the baking time but I think even that's dependent on how juicy the apples are. My best advise is to start checking at 30-40 minutes and then every 5-8 minutes thereafter. The cake I baked to celebrate the 1st of October, my mostest favorite month took about 50 minutes.

I like to do mine in a bundt pan which does help with even baking .. plus it looks very pretty if served with a scoop of unsweetened whipped cream and a generous drizzle of the most amazing salted caramel sauce ever!

carrot cake

It doesn't get better than a nice, moist carrot cake.  I love it and  Axel loves it. But I never order it in a Bakery or Restaurant because it's just never ever quite this good.

This recipe came from my sister and she might have gotten it from Martha, but who knows.  Of course, I've made that one change again ... reduced the amount of sugar!  My goodness, why do they think we need that much sugar? 

This cake is such a favorite in our house that it was our choice for a wedding cake.  I'd show you pictures but it was the hottest day of the year and we ran out of powdered sugar for the icing so it was more of a glaze that was dripping / running off the cake and oozing all over the platter.  

CARROT CAKE

Cream together:

4 eggs

1-1/2 cups sugar (original recipe calls for 2 cups)

1-1/2 cups vegetable oil

Add:

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

Stir thoroughly, then add:

3 cups* grated carrots

Bake at 350F / 175C for 35-40 minutes and then check.  When an inserted knife comes out clean, it's done - in some ovens I've had to bake as long as one hour.

One batch will fill two 9" cake pans

1-1/2 batches will fill three 9" round pans plus 6 tuna cans.

Tuna cans?  Yes, I have about a dozen that I've saved and cleaned.  The make the perfect mini cakes.  Allow to cool, remove from pan, frost and then freeze on a baking sheet.  The wrap individually and put back in freezer.  Perfect for popping a surprise into the honey's bag on his way to work or defrost and serve sweet little mini cake to your girlfriends on a quilting day.


Update: APR 2012
Since we discovered last summer that I am sensitive to lactose (primarily cow's milk) we now substitute Goat's "Plattekaas" for the cream cheese. Just don't whip it! It will liquify and go all icky runny and adding more powdered sugar just makes it too sweet. Gently fold the sugar in for the best results.

*For years I have never accurately measured the grated carrots. I use my food processor to grate them and when it looks like the right amount I stopped. It turns out I've been putting in way too many which would probably explain why I often have to bake them so long (see baking instructions above). I thought just this once I would follow the recipe. It was *good* but not the nice, moist, oh-so-yummy that I associate with this recipe. So the moral of the story is ... add more carrots ... I probably use closer to 4 cups but you will have to work with your baking time and maybe even lower the temp a tad. I've also discovered that my oven here in Kalken rarely ever comes up to the temp I want so now I have to play with the controls all the while reading a thermometer placed in the oven.


Esther was also kind enough to point out that I never gave you all the recipe for the frosting. Here's the original.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING


3 oz cream cheese
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla


And my comments of course: Back in the day before my lactose intolerance I always use a whole bar (8 oz) of cream cheese because you can never have enough frosting. Now I use soft goat's cheese. It's not the same but still nice. A bit tangier so it's a balancing act between sugar and vanilla to get it just right. But I always use Mexican vanilla - that helps. It's such a lovely flavor and so different from just any old vanilla extract. I'm nearly out so a friend is bringing some from the states for me.