Birthday Apple Cake

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! So amazing to think that he has been alive for a quarter of a century... only for the next couple of months will he be alone in this feat, I'll be there soon enough. To celebrate his special day I've made his absolute favorite dessert: Apple Cake. I'm not going to lie to you, this is not as easy as the other recipes that I've posted, but it is the most amazing thing. I guarantee, you will want to try this in your own kitchen. This recipe comes from Judy Rosenberg's cookbook, Rosie's Bakery All-Butter Fresh Cream Sugar-Packed No-Holds-Barred Baking Book (yeah, nothing in it is good for you).

Apple Cake

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temp
4 cups apples (3-4 large apples), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar for topping

Good tip: To keep the apples from turning brown, let them soak in a mixture of water and some acidic liquid like orange juice, lemon juice, or pineapple juice.





Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 (340 works better in mine, play around with what you like). Lightly grease a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.
2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl.
3. Cream the butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a medium-size mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes. Stop to scrape the bowl twice with a rubber spatula.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix on medium-low speed after each addition until blended, 10 seconds. Scrap the bowl each time. Once the eggs are added, mix again for 10 seconds.
5. Add half the dry ingredients and blend on low speed for 15 seconds. Scrap the bowl, add the rest of the dry ingredients, and mix on low speed until blended, about 5 seconds more.
6. Add the apples with a few turns of the mixer.
7. Spoon the batter into the pan and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over the top. Bake the cake on the center oven rack until the top is firm and golden and a toothpick inserted at the cake's highest point comes out dry, about 1 hour and 5 minutes.

So worth the effort...