FRESH APPLE PECAN CAKE – A Healthy Dessert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall is apple time in my kitchen. Time to make Fresh Apple Pecan Cake, apple sauce from bright red apples, apple pie slices, dutch apple pie and apple butter. In apple season, my kitchen is a haven of apple, sugar and cinnamon baked into special treats for family and friends.

Why apples? Apples are available all year long and are known by many health and nutrition experts as a “miracle food”.  Apples, high in antioxidants and dietary fiber, also provide many other health benefits. I found an excellent article in a favourite blog, Well-being Secrets.com, that explains 34Science-Backed Health Benefits of Apples. Click on the link to read about the healthy reasons to include apples in your diet.

As we live in Alberta with minus 40° C in the winter and late killing frosts in the spring, many fruit trees that are so prolific in the milder climates (like peaches, apricots and sweet cherries) do not grow well or produce well here. But, many apple varieties do produce well here and we all brag about the apples that we get from the  hardy trees in our suburban yards.

I love apples! Such a versatile fruit! Apples can be baked, poached, fried, stewed, canned, and made into sauce, jams, butters, chutneys. Apples can be served as dessert in cakes and squares, main course in pancakes or chopped for stuffing, and side dishes in salads and fritters.

Our Goodland apple tree yielded beautiful big apples this fall. Firm enough for pies and crisps, several pies mounded high with apple slices were carefully wrapped and placed into the freezer. Apple slices dipped into a fruit protector (I use Bernardin’s Fruit Fresh), frozen on a cookie sheet till firm and then placed into freezer bags are waiting to be made into apple crumble or apple blackberry pie.

But, the very first treat I make when the apples are picked is my Fresh Apple Pecan Cake. This recipe came to me from a favorite neighbor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the best fresh apple butter cake recipe I’ve seen – moist with lots of apple flavor. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup water which adds liquid, but no flavor. Instead I substituted 1/2 cup of my organic apple juice that I made from our apples.Why apple juice in cake? In her excellent health blog, healthambition.com, Helen agrees that we should all be squeezing our own apple juice because of all the additional nutrition we get from the apple’s skin and pulp (https://www.healthambition.com/benefits-apple-juice). Plus, I never add sugar to my apple juice, so the real flavor of the apples comes through and we can avoid the added sugar found in commercially processed juices. Bonus!

Oh my! What an awesome flavor the juice adds! The cake is beautifully moist with an extra pop of apple flavor. Add to that the crunch of pecan pieces, and the cake is “to die for”! This cake keeps well and freezes well too. Enjoy!

FRESH APPLE PECAN CAKE:

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup apple juice
3 medium apples peeled and finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
1. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, allspice, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with juice.
4. Fold in apples, nuts and vanilla.
5. Pour into greased 10 inch tube pan lined with wax paper on the bottom OR Pour into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan that has been sprayed with baking spray.
6. Bake at 350°F for 1 1/2 hours for a tube or bundt pan OR 40 minutes in the 9 x 13 inch pan. Remove from oven when cake tester comes out clean. If using a tube pan, cool 10 minutes in pan on a cooling rack. Remove from pan. Finish cooling on cooling rack. Top with a vanilla glaze OR serve with warm rum sauce. If using the 9 x 13 inch pan, top with vanilla glaze while still warm and cool on cooling rack. Cut into squares to serve.

VANILLA GLAZE:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
5 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (or more for stronger lemon flavor)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Stir all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Spread glaze over top of cake and let the glaze run down the sides.

WARM RUM SAUCE:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons dark rum or to taste
Melt butter over low heat. Add brown sugar, syrup, cream and heat just to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in rum. Cool slightly before serving with cake. I like to put the rum sauce into a clear gravy boat and pass it to the guests so everyone can help themselves.

This recipe is a keeper!

 

Tags: apple, apple juice, apple pecan cake, cakes, fresh apple cake, pecan cake, vanilla glaze, WARM RUM SAUCE

Category: Cakes & Tortes