Fall in
New England is perhaps my favorite time of year. While up in Vermont visiting my charming son-in-law's family and I took the grandkids to Stowe for the day. Along the way we stopped at the
Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury. After sampling all the baked on-premises apple cider donuts and caramel apples, along with the hot pepper jellies, fresh fall produce and
Cabot Vermont Cheddar cheese and crackers, I was hankering to get home and make a good old-fashioned
Bundt Apple Cake. There's so many terrific things to do with apples!
Fall Desserts
Over the years I've collected from family and friends and tucked away plenty of apple cake recipes. This is a new one that I've adapted from
- Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia.
Now even though I believe that New England moms and grandmoms can cook up comfort food as good as anyone else, the gals down South really know how to mix together a cake from scratch!
This is fresh apple cake is considered a poke cake - the caramel sauce saturates the insides of the cake making it sticky and yummy, while the whiskey I've added makes it go down so smoothly on a cool fall night! The sour cream and coconut that I added supplies body and texture.
My family enjoyed it so much that I had to make one on Saturday and another for Sunday night dinner! I inherited my mom's vintage Pyrex nesting mixing bowls and still use them to bake. They're almost as old as I am - maybe even older! Do the math! On second thought, maybe not!
Easy clean-up with my crochet
Handmade Dish Cloths from my
Moomettes Crochet shop for your kitchen decor !
IOne of my new favorite recipes is this
Sourdough Apple Cake which turned out to be a big hit.
f you like caramel check out my recipe for
German Caramel Turtle Bars
Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Whiskey Sauce
Butter, for greasing bundt pan
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. cider
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. ground cinnamon
1 Tbl. Vanilla Extract
3 c. peeled and finely chopped apples
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Sauce:
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. Whiskey (ok you can leave this out and substitute cider)
1/4.c. Buttermilk
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a tube or Bundt pan
*For the Cake:*
In a large bowl, combine sugar and eggs and beat well. Mix in oil, cider, flour, sour cream, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix well. Fold in apples, coconut and nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester or toothpick comes out clean, approximately 1-1/2 hours.
Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce.
*Sauce:*
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. (Large is important, as the mixture doubles in size.) Stir in the sugar, buttermilk/Whiskey mixture, and the baking soda. Bring to a good rolling boil while stirring constantly. Boil for about 1 minute.
After the cake is removed from the oven, poke holes into it with a knife or fork. Pour the sauce completely over the hot cake while it is still in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven.
Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
© Frugal New England Kitchen
