Rick and Lanie’s Excellent Kitchen Adventure

Had company over for dinner tonight and planned an easy meal, Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sausages served over spaghetti, garlic bread and for dessert, two choices: Maple-Butterscotch Puddings and Grandma’s Moist Apple Cake. All were tried-and-trues, except the Apple Cake.

I love the puddings because it’s an adult version of a kid favorite. Rich, creamy butterscotch pudding topped with a thin layer of maple syrup and chopped nuts. Delish. The Apple Cake is my second recipe from Rick and Lanie’s Excellent Kitchen Adventure, and another winner. Very easy to make, and aside from the apples, you probably already have the rest of the ingredients on hand, which is always a nice thing. After about 20 minutes in the oven, the kitchen smelled insanely good. The recipe is similar to Cooking Light’s Cinnamon Apple Cake, another favorite of ours, but different enough that you’d want to have both recipes in your file. This, like yesterday’s beans, is from the Oklahoma section of the cookbook. So far, Oklahoma is doing good … maybe it’s time to seek out an Oklahoman cookbook to add to my collection?

Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness has posted the round-up for all the food bloggers who participated in her first Blog Party, and you can check it out here. My printer is busy humming away … lots of new recipes to be had there. I just hope there was a designated driver with all that alcohol we served! :)

All for tonight … until tomorrow…

Grandma’s Moist Apple Cake
1 cup chopped nuts, toasted
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 stick of butter, melted
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream, plain or vanilla yogurt or milk (I used milk)
3 medium apples, chopped in small pieces (I used 4)

Position rack in middle of oven. Preheat to 325. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt through sifter into a medium bowl. In another large bowl, combine the sugar, oil, melted butter, eggs and sour cream, yogurt or milk. Beat with a large spoon to mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir to mix thoroughly. Add apple pieces and nuts. Stir to combine thoroughly. Scoop into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour (for Bundt cake or tube pan) or 35-40 minutes (for layers or muffins), until the cake pulls away slightly from the mold and feels springy in the center. Remove and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold onto a cooling rack to cool completely. The cake is great served as is, or for a special presentation, you can glaze it.

Apricot Glaze: In a small saucepan, melt 1 cup apricot jam over medium heat, stirring until runny. Brush or drizzle (from a spoon) over the cake.

PRINT