KAF Apple Cake
(from kylerhea’s recipe box)
tips from our bakers
To toast nuts, place them in a single layer in a cake pan. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 6 to 9 minutes, until they’re golden brown and smell “toasty.”
To guarantee lump-free frosting, sift confectioners’ sugar before adding to the butter mixture. Usually all the lumps disappear as you beat the frosting; but to guarantee no lumps at all, sift the sugar first.
Source: KAF
Serves 24 peopleCategories: Apples, Baked Goods, Cakes, December2014
Ingredients
- cake
- 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger and ground nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups peeled, cored, chopped apple, about 1 1/3 pounds whole apples
- 1 cup diced toasted walnuts or pecans
- frosting
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla-butternut flavor
Directions
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1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9″ × 13″ pan.
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2) To make the cake: Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and nuts in a large bowl.
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3) Beat until well combined; the mixture will be very stiff, and may even be crumbly.
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4) Add the apples and nuts, and mix until the apples release some of their juice and the stiff mixture becomes a thick batter, somewhere between cookie dough and brownie batter in consistency.
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5) Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing it with your wet fingers.
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6) Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few wet crumbs clinging to it.
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7) Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool completely; don’t remove the cake from the pan.
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8) To make the frosting: Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and salt and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts.
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9) Add the milk, bring to a boil, and pour into a mixing bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
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10) After 10 minutes, stir in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat well; if the mixture appears too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar. Spread on the cake while frosting is still warm.
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Yield: about 2 dozen servings.