Fresh Apple Cake with Praline Frosting

The newest addition to my collection of Southern food recipes is this Fresh Apple Cake we had for dessert last night on our third day of Masters weekend. We had another superb dinner of barbecue king salmon

along with some Southern sides of biscuits, cheesy potatoes and coleslaw. (The coleslaw is a simple recipe of chopped green cabbage with the same mayonnaise dressing used in my macaroni salad recipe plus a sprinkle of celery seed.)

For appetizers, we had steamed artichokes

with a little mayonnaise and chilled Chardonnay. The sisters are enjoying Masters weekend, too.

I chose a recipe from Tea-Time at the Masters for our dessert called Fresh Apple Cake and made a few adaptions of my own that resulted in this spectacle cake.

The glaze on this cake tastes like pralines and is ooey-gooey delicious! The cake makes for a beautiful presentation if you want a cake that will impress. It will be the center of attention.

You can make this cake ahead of time and freeze it. Make the glaze fresh to pour over the cake before serving. We discovered that the cake tastes even better the second day.

Makes 12 servings

2 eggs, slightly beaten
2-3/4 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 cups peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples (about 3 apples)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1-1/2 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Glaze:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup cream

1. Allow eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour a bundt pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In another bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; set aside.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.

5. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined.
6. Fold in apples and pecans. Batter will be thick.

7. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
8. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
9. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

10. Carefully remove from pan. Cool thoroughly on wire rack.
11. To make glaze, melt butter in small saucepan.
12. Add sugar, nuts and cream and bring to a boil.
13. Cook until soft ball stage (235 degrees).
14. Pour glaze over cake.

Comments

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides a plan for responsible eating that covers a no-nonsense rundown on

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, there was a big party go

Waking Up in Vegas

and just like that...we were Waking Up in Vegas. Just like the Katy Perry song. We went to her 78th performance which was her second-to-last Las Vegas residency show entitled "Play". That was perfect for us because we went to Vegas simply to play. Her concert was a great finale for us because it was high energy and full of silliness, just the way Katy Perry is. And we were feeling it after three nights in Las Vegas. "Get up, and shake the gutter off your clothes now, That's what you get for waking up in Vegas". Here's what she said about her show: "I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove. When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. This show is for everyone’s inner child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. Because never forget, love is and will always be the key,” she said. We went to Vegas spur of the moment because Br

Sylvia's Scenario

Search This Blog