Fresh Apple Cake

I often associate apples with fall, saving recipes like this for when the air is crisp and leaves are dropping from the trees. There's nothing exclusively autumn about granny smith apples, however, and our temperatures have certainly been cold enough to warrant a warm, hearty cake such as this one.

It was my turn to bring a treat for the Wednesday morning Bible study. Last year, I attended all through the spring semester without ever having to bake anything, as I arrived in Parkville after the sign-up sheet had gone around. Then came fall and a new sign-up to bring treats...except I was still in San Diego so I missed that round of volunteering too! Finally, we came to January and the spring semester's worth of a whole new set of dates for treats. And this time, I couldn't worm out of my baking duties.

It's a funny thing about baking for a new group, for the first time. I found myself very nervous about the prospect of picking and preparing a dish that, hopefully, the ladies in my study would enjoy. When you cook, you do present some small aspect of who you are to others and, along with that expression, can come worry that your gift will be soundly rejected.

After a lot of going back and forth on what to make, I decided on the apple cake recipe that Elgie often brought to our small group in San Diego. Elgie is another of those navy wives who can, when called on, whip up foods that always please their intended audience. I've eaten her version of this recipe many times and always loved the moistness of the cake, as well as that sweet tang of apples.

Cutting up those granny smiths takes a little bit of time but the cake is, otherwise, easy to put together. My rendition went straight from the oven to church, arriving still warm as the sweet ladies of PHBC cut into it. Just as our small group in San Diego looked forward to Elgie showing up with her version, so the Bible Study ladies raved over warm apple cake on a very cold February morning.

Fresh Apple Cake

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1  1/4 cups canola oil or cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped (3 cups)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
sweetened whipped cream (optional)
apple slices (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13x2 baking pan and set aside. In a very large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, oil, and vanilla: stir in the apples and nuts. Add egg mixture in the well in flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. (Batter will be thick). Spread batter in the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 1 hour. Serve lightly warm or at room temperature. If desired, top each serving with sweetened whipped cream and an apple slice.