Although I usually don't find apple cake to be all that exciting, I really wanted to try the recipe for Teddie's Apple Cake from the The New York Times. The fact that the recipe appeared in the newspaper in 1973 was part of the appeal; I have an appreciation for "classic" recipes from a simpler time.
And from a simpler time, you get a simple recipe. To make the cake batter, you beat vegetable oil and sugar for five minutes; add eggs; stir in the sifted dry ingredients (flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda); and incorporate vanilla, sliced apples (I used Pink Lady), chopped walnuts, and raisins. You transfer the batter to a buttered and floured tube pan and bake.
While I was able to get this cake out of the pan without a problem (my tube pan has a removable bottom), slicing it was quite messy. The top of the cake had developed a very thick and firm crust during baking, and even though I carefully used a very sharp Global bread knife to gently saw through it, various-sized chunks of the crust broke off from virtually every slice. And I had to cut fairly thick slices (only 16 servings from a 10-inch tube pan), because otherwise the skinny end of the wedges were prone to breaking off entirely. Despite these first-world problems, I loved this cake.
I greedily devoured all of the bits of crust that fell off, because they were my favorite part. I almost always prefer the crust and edges on baked goods (is there anything better than a crusty corner piece of brownie?), and this deeply flavorful cake crust was no exception. It's hard to pin down exactly why I liked this cake so much better than the Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting I made a few days earlier -- was it the beautiful crust, the sweet, plump raisins, or the fact that the cake was less greasy? All I know is that this simple apple cake, with its true and uncomplicated flavors, is something special.
Recipe: "Teddie's Apple Cake" from the The New York Times.
And from a simpler time, you get a simple recipe. To make the cake batter, you beat vegetable oil and sugar for five minutes; add eggs; stir in the sifted dry ingredients (flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda); and incorporate vanilla, sliced apples (I used Pink Lady), chopped walnuts, and raisins. You transfer the batter to a buttered and floured tube pan and bake.
I greedily devoured all of the bits of crust that fell off, because they were my favorite part. I almost always prefer the crust and edges on baked goods (is there anything better than a crusty corner piece of brownie?), and this deeply flavorful cake crust was no exception. It's hard to pin down exactly why I liked this cake so much better than the Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting I made a few days earlier -- was it the beautiful crust, the sweet, plump raisins, or the fact that the cake was less greasy? All I know is that this simple apple cake, with its true and uncomplicated flavors, is something special.
Recipe: "Teddie's Apple Cake" from the The New York Times.
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