Apple Walnut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Description
Nothing says comfort food like cinnamon, apples, and a cream-cheese frosting. This is an amazingly flavorful cake that has been a part of our “repertoire” for more than 20 years. It is especially wonderful since we grow the Granny Smith apples on our property! We enjoy this cake with homemade, Mincemeat made in the Traditional English Fashion, which you can access by clicking on that recipe title.
At a Glance
Equipment
It is important to have either a stand mixer or a hand mixer to prepare this cake.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
4-½ to 5 cups of Granny Smith or other cooking Apples, peeled and sliced
1-½ cup of Granulated Sugar
½ cup of Canola or other Vegetable Oil
1 cup of Walnuts, chopped
2 Eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
2 cups of All-purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
½ teaspoon of Allspice
½ teaspoon of Nutmeg, freshly grated
Pinch of Cloves
1 teaspoon of Salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces of Cream Cheese, softened—at room temperature (low-calorie cream cheese can also be used)
1-½ to 2 cups of Powdered Sugar—do this by texture, because the frosting should be soft, yet firm. (It will depend on how thick you like your frosting.)
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
½ teaspoon of Cinnamon
Drizzle with Reduction of Balsamic Vinegar
Directions
To Prepare the Cake:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the sliced apples and the sugar, and then add the oil, the nuts, the eggs, and the vanilla. In a separate bowl and using a whisk, mix the dry ingredients – the flour, the baking soda, the cinnamon, the allspice, the nutmeg, the cloves, and the salt. Once they are completely mixed, add the dry ingredients to the apple mixture, and continue stirring it until it is completely combined. This will be very thick at this point. Using a non-stick baking spray, spray a 9 X 13-inch, glass, baking dish and then pour the cake ingredients into the baking dish. Put the apple cake into the oven and then begin to make the cream cheese frosting.
Let the cake bake for about an hour (so that the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the baking dish.) Bake it longer if the sides are not pulling away from the baking dish. Sometimes if the apples are particularly juicy, it may take longer.
To Prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a stand mixer (or using a hand-held mixer) on a medium/low speed, mix the cream cheese, the vanilla, the cinnamon, and include the powdered sugar in ½ cup increments. Mix it until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.
Once the sides of the apple cake are pulling away from the sides of the baking dish, pull the apple cake out of the oven and let cool. Once the apple cake is completely cooled, top with the cream cheese frosting. Serve immediately! Enjoy.
Storage Suggestion:
This cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. We have also frozen this apple cake and it comes out perfectly.
