Fall Harvest Apple Cake with Butter Pecan Glaze

We're just thrilled! My son proposed to his girlfriend a little more than a week ago while on a trip to Ireland!  In honor of their engagement, I'm sharing this marvelous apple cake.  I served it for dessert the first time she joined the family for dinner...three years ago this fall.

The cake was a big hit at that dinner; however, I wanted more of an obvious apple taste.  The original recipe called for grated apples...this time, I used sliced apples.  I was delighted with the results!  The sliced apples offer more of the apple taste that I desired and form a beautiful circle (of love?) in the middle.  The rich butter pecan glaze complements the apple cake perfectly.
                       
                                                 A Warm Welcome...

                                                  To Our Table!

As adapted from White Lily Flour's recipe for Fresh Apple Cake with Butter Pecan Glaze

Approximately 12 servings

Ingredients

The Cake

• Non-stick baking spray (for pan)
• 3 c. sifted all-purpose plain flour (I use White Lily...obviously!)
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 c. firmly packed, light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil (I use canola oil)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 4 c. cleaned, peeled, cored, quartered & thinly sliced apples--about 4/ea., 2 5/8" in diameter (I use Gala apples)*
• 1 c. chopped pecans*

The Glaze

• 1/4 c. salted butter
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans*
• 3/4 c. firmly packed, light brown sugar
• 1/4 c. heavy cream (I use evaporated milk)
• 1/4 c. light corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp. orange extract (I use...but this extract is optional)

*Tip
This is a good recipe for your food processor:  Using the chopping blade, chop the pecans on pulse.  Switch to the slicing blade and place the apple quarters horizontally into the chute to slice.

Opening Our Hearts...

And Sharing The Bounty!

Directions

The Cake

1. Thoroughly spray a 10" Bundt pan, including the tube, with the baking spray.
2. Whisk well the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Preheat the oven to 350º.
4. Beat the brown sugar, oil and eggs on medium speed, just until well combined.  Gradually add the flour mixture on low speed, about a cup at a time, and blend just until well combined.  Scrape the bowl.   Give a quick little extra beat on medium low.  Stir in the vanilla, then fold in the apples and pecans.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, filling no more than 3/4 full.
6. Bake about 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched.  (My cake takes 60 minutes.)
7. Place on a wire rack, cover with a clean dish towel and cool overnight.
8. To release:  Gently run a very thin-bladed knife around the edges and tube of the pan.  Carefully invert the cake onto a serving platter and leave the fluted side up.

The Glaze

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Toast the pecans in the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly.
2. Whisk in the brown sugar, cream and corn syrup, then bring to a rolling boil.
3. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from the heat and blend in the orange extract.
4. Cool the glaze until thickened.  Drizzle over the cake, reserving some to spoon over individual slices.

When ready to serve, slice the cake carefully with a serrated knife.  (Sorry, my photo of the sliced cake didn't really show the circle of apple slices in the center.)  Because of the apples, refrigerate any leftover cake after a couple of days.

Enjoy autumn's bounty with this moist and satisfying, delicious apple cake...it would be perfect for Thanksgiving!

Printable Recipe 

                                    The Bachelor Has Nothing On Him!

                                                 Slea Head Beach

Blueberry Burst Cake with Pecans/Walnuts ~ A Retro Recipe

I recently opened a piece of mail from my sister, thinking what could this be...it's not my birthday or anything!  I was delightfully surprised to receive a copy of a blueberry cake recipe with a note on it...simply, that she thought I might like it.  Well, that's putting it mildly...this is the best blueberry cake I've ever made, and the first one I recall making with the blueberries scattered throughout!

Of course, I called her to thank her for the recipe and to see if she had any tips on preparing it.  Apparently she's been making this cake for years, and she originally found it in a newspaper (remember what I've said about treasured recipes from newspapers?).

My sister and I have adapted the recipe from the original one, which was titled "Mary R. Greene's Blueberry Cake" and shared in an article by Cecily Brownstone, a food editor with the Associated Press for nearly forty years.  Mary R. Greene was a recipe tester for Ms. Brownstone.  I couldn't find the recipe on the internet, so I'm not sure of the exact year (but, yikes, probably in the 70's...my sister started baking as a small child, of course!).  In response to a reader's question regarding why blueberries seem to always fall to the bottom of a cake, Ms. Brownstone offered this fascinating insight in an article (a different recipe) I found from July 11, 1963: "Our guess is that when fresh, cultivated blueberries are used in batters, they sink to the bottom because they are larger and heavier than they once were."  Boy, that explains a long-standing, baffling question of mine!  (Flouring the blueberries before adding to the batter has not always worked for me!)

Sis suggested doubling the blueberries and adding a few more nuts...I just doubled the nuts.  She also suggested adding additional layers of filling and batter and advised the layers would be thin (and they were!).  The original recipe called for walnuts (love them!); but I happened to have pecans in the freezer from my brother's pecan orchard, so I used them...either nut would work great!  I added ground mace, which is a favorite spice of mine for some cakes.

This moist cake is just bursting with blueberries that are scattered throughout the cake, and you'll enjoy it any time of the day!  My mother and her friends could always be found at one of their houses having a morning or afternoon break with a good cup of coffee, cake and lots of laughter...does any one do that any more? 
                              

                                             Go Ahead, Go Retro!

                          Have A Hen (Or Rooster) Session and Enjoy!


Approximately 12-16 servings

Ingredients

The Blueberry Filling

• 2 c. (or 1 pint) rinsed, and gently dried, fresh blueberries
• 1 c. medium-fine chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1/4 c. sugar

The Topping

• 1 TB sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• (or use leftover cinnamon/sugar mixture from my Fried Tortillas with Cinnamon and Sugar Coating)

The Batter

• 2 1/2 c. sifted, all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. ground mace spice
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. butter w/salt, room temperature
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. (about 1/2 of a large lemon) lemon zest
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 c. sour cream (I use reduced fat)
• Non-stick baking spray
  

   Just Bursting With Berries...

                                          Scattered Throughout!

Directions

The Blueberry Filling
Gently fold the ingredients together with a spatula, while avoiding crushing the berries.

The Topping
Stir the ingredients together with a whisk or fork.

The Batter

1. Whisk together the flour, mace, baking powder and baking soda.
2. Thoroughly beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in the vanilla and lemon zest.  Scrape the bowl.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, just until the egg color disappears.
5. Mix in the sour cream.  Scrape the bowl again.
6. On low speed, gradually beat in about 1/3 at a time of the flour mixture, until well blended.
7. Scrape the bowl again and give the batter one last quick little mix.
8. Thoroughly spray a 10" Bundt pan, including the tube, with the baking spray.
9. Preheat the oven to 350º.
10. Starting with the batter and ending with the batter, alternately layer about 1 1/4 c. batter with 1 c. blueberry filling.  You'll have four layers of batter and three layers of blueberry filling--seven layers total.  (Very carefully spread the batter layers, as they will be very thin.  When adding the blueberry filling layers, sprinkle about a TB at a time.  Try to keep the berries whole at all times.)
11. Sprinkle the final layer of batter with the topping.
12. On the rack below the center of the oven, bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
13. Cover the cake with a clean dish towel (to let it "sweat"), and let cool overnight.
14. To release the cake from the pan, carefully run a very thin-bladed knife around the edges of the pan...invert onto a serving dish and give the pan a good shake and tap.  Ta-Da!

To serve, carefully slice the cake with a serrated knife. Because the blueberries could cause the cake to mold; if you have any cake left over after a day or two, refrigerate it; after about 4 days, freeze it. (That is, if you have any left over!) Enjoy!


                                           Mmm, That Looks Good!

                                  Did Someone Forget About The Kids?

Printable Recipe

Strawberries In Rose Cake with Lemon Glaze

Roses were my dear mother's favorite flower...I suppose that's why I was so drawn to the rose-pattern pan I used for this cake.  My daughter loves strawberry desserts; and for her birthday this past week, I chose a strawberry-yogurt cake to make in the rose cake pan which I had received as a gift from her.

When I was a little girl, I loved to sew, especially by hand.  I once drew Humpty Dumpty On A Wall on a cloth and slip-stitched the design.  I never took up needlepoint or embroidery, though I'm sure I would have enjoyed it. My grandmother left me the little tablecloth which I used as a backdrop for this cake photo shoot.  It probably served as a foyer table cover, or something similar...I just adore the detail. 

My family loved this moist, dense cake; and I know you and yours will enjoy it also...
 
                                         From My Recipe Garden