Alton Brown's Apple Cake

Now that I've gotten oranges out of my system, I'm moving on to apples. These abandoned apples were rescued from our lunchroom and made use of before they were thrown out. What would they do without me? After making apple pie, crumble and crisp, I thought it was time for cake. Earlier this year I had made Alton Brown's apple cake from his I'm Just Here for More Food- Baking. It flopped coming out of the bundt pan but tasted delicious, albeit a tad too sweet. So with apples in hand, I decided to make it again. This time, I reduced the sugar by half a cup and baked it in a nine inch springform to avoid any mishaps. Scented with cinnamon and nutmeg, my room smelled like fall once again. The apples softened beautifully in the oven and the bottom of the cake caramelized itself into yummy goodness. This apple cake is simple but a winner. A line formed for this cake as it was baking and impatient girls were waiting for a slice. The result? Cake gone in sixty seconds. Well not quite, it was more like five minutes, but the responses were the same all around- delicious. I sprinkled the top of this cake with sugar, both to caramelize the top and to give it a nice crunchy top. Use almost any apples you have around- I wouldn't use granny smiths though, I think they'd be too strong here. This cake is would be wonderful with vanilla ice cream. Oh, and if it's possible at all, allow to cool somewhat before letting anyone dig into it!

Apple Cake

adapted slightly from Alton Brown's recipe

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated cinnamon

4 cups apples, unpeeled, cored and cut into chunks

Prehat your oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9 inch springform pan.

Have your apples ready. Set aside.Place the margarine and sugar in a bowl,and beat until smooth and creamy.Add the eggs and vanilla,
and beat until combined.Add the dry ingredients,and combine thoroughly.Fold in the apples.Heres my chunky batter.Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly to all sides of the pan. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.

Bake until the internal temperature reaches 212 degrees. For the bundt, AB says it would take about an hour and forty five minutes. I can't tell you what it took for me because I dont time things. But I would guess about and hour. Use your eyes, nose and thermometer to determine doneness. Watch as it quickly disappears.....