This cake has been a staple in my family for several generations, and I love to make it and share the recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose organic flour (locally grown and milled, if you can)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ cups butter, room temperature
- 1¼ cups cane sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup English walnuts, chopped
- 4–5 cups apples, peeled and diced
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- by 13-inch pan with butter or shortening and dust it with flour.
Whisk together the dry ingredients. This will include the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, use a mixer to beat butter with cane sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, incorporating the first one fully before adding in the second. Add in vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
Before combining the wet and dry ingredients, toss apples with the 2 teaspoons flour and combine cane sugar and cinnamon for the topping.
Pour the butter-sugar-egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until almost incorporated. Add in the apples and walnuts and combine, but be sure not to over mix. The batter will be thick and chunky with apples. Spread batter into a 9- by 13-inch pan and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Depending on your oven it will take anywhere from 50 to 65 minutes. The cake will be done when the center is firm, and a knife inserted comes out clean.
