Deb’s Mom’s Apple Cake
Have you been over to Smitten Kitchen? It’s a seriously drool-inducing food blog that I love. She makes the most amazing things and has some great photographs. And, what makes her even more perfectly hate-inducing is that she has the worlds smallest kitchen. Man, I feel like I have nothing to complain about after seeing her tiny tiny kitchen.
Hopefully I didn’t lose all of you to browse Deb’s blog for hours on end… Back to what I was talking about: Deb’s mom’s Apple Cake. I saw this and knew instantly that it would be a perfect fall cake. And then I found the perfect opportunity to make it. Our cooking club chose cinnamon as the theme this month. I came up with a list of about 8 recipes I wanted to try that highlight cinnamon and then I let Hubby chose which one I should make. He didn’t even have to think about it once he saw this cake.
I wish they had invented a way to share smells through a computer. Maybe some day. All I can tell you is that this cake smells amazing while it’s baking. I ended up baking the cake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. I had a hard time telling when it was done. I stuck a knife in it and there was still some gooeyness but I didn’t want to overbake the cake…
(Deb’s) Mom’s Apple Cake – from Smitten Kitchen
Printable Recipe
6 apples, Mom uses McIntosh apples, peeled, cored, and chopped – I used 3 McIntosh and 3 Golden Delicious
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional) – I omitted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan. Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Toss with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spread half of apples over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean.
By the way, I don’t think a tester would ever come clean from this cake. Do you see that gooey goodness on the top there. That’s half baked dough and it’s amazing. Seriously, the best part of this cake. I checked my cake at an hour, then every 10 minutes. It baked for 1 hour, 20 minutes and it was a little over done on the bottom. I think next time I’ll do it for an hour and ten minutes. I’ll also make three layers of batter and apples. And don’t you worry, I’ll definitely be making this again soon!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
These pancakes look perfect! I don’t make pancakes that often, but this mix would be an easy throw together to keep in the freezer. Yum!
Great idea to freeze the mix. I have been making our pancake batter from scratch for a while now, and it’s nearly impossible to go back to the boxed stuff! They just taste flavorless and cardboard-y. I had been reluctant to make mix ahead of time because I didn’t want it to go bad. Thanks for the idea!
What a great idea to have a homemade pancake mix on hand!
A good substitute for buttermilk – since most of us don’t keep it on hand, but do have milk in the fridge:
1 TBS white vinegar with enough milk added to make 1 cup. Allowed to sit for at least ten minutes, this mixture will clot up and mimic buttermilk sufficiently for most recipes.
Those pancakes look amazing!! Oh my goodness.
i think it is a great idea about freezing milk, too. I buy whole milk for baking only so I need to do that.
Wow. Those look so good I might have to whip some up…..like…NOW.
http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com
You can also use lemon juice instead of vinegar in the substitute for buttermilk provided by Nancy.
One thing to note about this recipe though. Not only is the buttermilk needed for the chemical reaction, but it also provides a great flavor to the pancakes that I don’t think you get from using the substitute. Also, buttermilk will keep for a very long time in the fridge since it’s acidic.
AB mentioned in his cookbook that there are only four thinks he will not make without buttermilk: cornbread, biscuits, waffles, and pancakes. I tend to agree with him.
What a great idea to make your own pancake mix and then when you want quick pancakes, you can have a healthy mix 🙂
Mmm, these look way better than a mix! Great tip to store the mix in the freezer too!
Yum! I love blueberry ‘anything’. Alton Brown recipes are always winners. If you’re looking for an even healthier pancake recipe, check out my ‘fluffy whole wheat pancakes’ on my blog. I mix batches of the dry ingredients and keep them in the freezer. Thanks for posting – I’m off to buy some blueberries! Oh, and I’m a new follower 🙂
These pancakes look amazing!! Bookmarked!
Hey Jen I am eating these pancakes at this very moment. They are so fluffy and filling! May I borrow this recipe for my blog and link it back to you??