Apple of my eye

Fall is here, Fall is here, Fall is here(!)...Fall is my favorite season in case you couldn't tell.  And New England is such a wonderful region to be in during this time, so all you west coasters can be jealous of us for a change (and for about a month max).  The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and apples are everywhere - mmmm apples.  Now, whoever decided to charge people extra so they can pick their own fruit is a genius.  I mean - I could totally buy apples from the store, but no...I'm going to drive an hour each way to pay twice as much per apple to go frolicking in an orchard and do the work myself.  Amazing.

No ladder?  No problem!

All the apples.

View from above

I have a serious love/hate relationship with apples.  I love them, but my body hates them - food allergies are awful.  I probably can't complain that much though, since my allergies will probably never be severe enough to kill me, and I just have to cook certain fruits and veggies before I can eat them.  So now that we've picked like fifty apples, what do we do with them?  Bake 'em...obviously.  Expect a ton of apple recipes coming your way!

First up - apple cake!  Ohemgee - this cake is to die for.  The sour cream in it keeps everything super moist and there are chunks of apple everywhere.  Without fail, this is the first recipe I grab every fall after an apple picking trip - I can't wait for you to try it.  So go!  Go get some apples (preferably off a tree) and make it!

Apple Sour Cream Cake adapted from Kittencalskitchen

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

4 medium apples (5 small) chopped into small cubes

½ cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish and flour, making sure to remove any excess flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl or the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs in one at a time, allowing each to incorporate before adding the next.  Then add the vanilla extract and mix.  Scrape down the bowl.

In alternating additions, add the flour mixture (3 additions) and sour cream (2 additions), beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Allow batter to fully incorporate.  Using a spatula, carefully fold in the apples.

Pour the batter into the 9x13 pan and spread out evenly.

In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Sprinkle this mixture on top of the cake.  Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow the cake to cool before cutting.  Then eat all the cake.

Tiffany


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