Apple Cake

I've been compiling a list of cake recipes to try for a while now. I'm not going through them very fast, but that probably not a bad thing considering that decadent cakes probably shouldn't be consumed with great frequency. I found this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. She apparently got it from her mother. And her mother, as it turns out, got it from a Home and Garden magazine.

Apple Cake
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen
6 apples, peeled and cubed (I used Honey Crisp)
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 3/4 c. flour (I used 2 1/4 c. unbleached, all-purpose and 1/2 c. whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. baking powder, sifted
1 tsp. table salt
1 c. canola oil
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. orange juice
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs

1. Toss apples with cinnamon and 6 Tbsp. sugar.
2. Grease pan and preheat oven to 350F. I used a Bundt pan. The original recipe calls for a tube pan.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine oil, 2 c. sugar, orange juice, and eggs.
5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
6. Here the original recipe calls for pouring half the batter into the pan, followed by half the apples, then the rest of the batter, and finally the rest of the apples. However, since I was using a Bundt pan and the cake would end up being served "upside down", I reversed the order and did apples-batter-apples-batter instead.
7. Bake at 350F for 1 hour 15 minutes.
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

This cake smelled amazing as it was cooking and it definitely delivered on flavour as well! It did not, however, have great structural integrity, so if you're looking for something with perfect presentation, this is not the cake for you. But seriously, so delicious! And over at Smitten Kitchen, Deb advises that it's even better on the second day when the juices from the apples have really sunk in and made everything lovely and moist and pudding-y.

TF's mom mentioned that this sounds like a good cake for serving with custard and I definitely think I'll give that a try next time. ('Cause you better believe there's gonna be a next time!) If nothing else, I think I may have to start making this cake for TF's birthday. He was quite taken with it.