Best-Ever Apple Cake

     Hello!  It's Recipe Tuesday and the best-ever apple cake recipe comes from the October 2009 issue of Redbook magazine (are you seeing an apple theme in my recipes lately?).  I may have mentioned this a million times before but fall is my most favorite time of the year and while winter is just around the corner I'm hanging on to it for as long as I can - I'm so not ready for snow! 

     Aaron and I met up with my folks at Carter Hill Apple Orchard a few weeks ago and picked up a peck of freshly picked Cortland apples.  When we got home I couldn't resist searching through my apple recipes to find something I hadn't made in a while; I finally settled on apple cake.  The cake is dense yet moist with just a hint of orange flavor.  Sprinkle it with a bit of powdered sugar and serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - yum!

Best-Ever Apple Cake

• 3 cups flour
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 1/4 cup
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 10-inch removable-bottom tube pan with nostick spray.

Aaron helped slice the apples!

2. In large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and apples until coated.

3. In mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, butter, orange juice and vanilla.  Slowly add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Beat until batter is smooth.

4. Pour half the batter (about 2 cups) into prepared pan.  Top with half of apple mixture.  Spoon remaining batter over apples and top with remaining apples, placing them 1/4" in from the tube and border of the cake.

5. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes.  Run a paring knife around the sides and center and turn cake out onto wire rack.  Invert cake onto another rack to cool, apple sides up.

** I no longer grease and flour my baking pan - I use Wilton's Cake Release.  Simply spread Cake Release on bottom and sides of pan with pastry brush and fill with batter.  Cakes release easily EVERY time!  You can order this online at Wilton.com or pick it up at Michael's for around $4.

.