Old-Fashioned Apple Cake

Apple Cake

Our son called last night to put in a request for pies - apple and lemon meringue - for Thanksgiving. Aunt Clara makes the world's best deep dish apple pie, which I'll try to recreate next weekend. In the meantime, I turned my attention to this lovely apple cake recipe to scent the house (and warm our tummies) on this cool and rainy fall evening.

We picked up a bag of freshly picked Cortland apples at Mountain Orchards on our recent stopover at my brother's house. The fragrance in their barn of apples and warm apple cider was welcoming and heartwarming. No wonder this is my favourite time of year.

I've been doing some research into ethical, sustainable farming and local stores, restaurants and butchers that support the slow food movement. This search led me yesterday to The Healthy Butcher on Eglinton Avenue West, just east of Avenue Road. It's a lovely shop that carries lovingly raised and ethically treated meats, poultry, dairy, etc. They also have the gourmet salts that I blogged about recently. After a very helpful and reassuring conversation, I placed an order for a free-range, organic turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner next weekend.

On my way out of the shop, I came across a fantastic free publication called Edible Toronto, published and edited by Gail Gordon Oliver. I couldn't believe how packed full of information, recipes, photos and great resources this magazine was! I was surprised and encouraged by how many people are focusing their attention on building a sustainable economy through ethical and environmentally respectful approaches to food. Check it out at www.edibletoronto.com .

In the magazine, I found a recipe for "A Good Old-Fashioned Apple Cake from Gail's Kitchen" and tried it out tonight with our Cortland apples. It didn't include a cooking temperature, but I found it turned out perfectly at 350 degrees. According to Gail, this recipe comes from one by Lara C. Atkins in Edible Green Mountains.

It is absolutely delicious! In fact, it hasn't even fully cooled and it's nearly half gone. It's lovely served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of tea.

Old-Fashioned Apple Cake

3 c. all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4-5 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks to make 4 cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" tube pan and dust with flour, shaking out excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and oil. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Fold half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just blended. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients. Fold in apples. The batter will be very thick and sticky.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan, and smooth the surface. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 60-70 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a rack. Use another rack to invert the cake so it is right side up.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Autumn Apple Crisp

Autumn Apple Crisp

We surrendered to the fog around mid-morning. The sea kayaking tours were cancelled for the day, and we figured we wouldn't see much from the hiking lookouts we were hoping to find. A good day for planning and preparing a warm and comforting meal.

My brother, Mike, made a beautiful Malaysian coconut chicken stew (with perfectly tender chunks of sweet potato) that bubbled away as we watched two whales playing in the cove in front of our cottage. I threw in some tofu near the end, which I liked but we all agreed would have been tastier had it been lightly sauteed first. A good lesson.

We picked up a bag of Gravenstein apples and I got to work on a crisp for dessert. It smelled heavenly when the apples and cinnamon melded together. This is a great dessert to serve for company - prepare it in the morning (don't bake), and put it in the oven during dinner. By the time you're ready to serve dessert, it will be perfectly ready.

Autumn Apple Crisp

8-9 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut in 8ths
3/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. + 1 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. or more cinnamon (Saigon cinnamon is best)
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. cold butter, cut in cubes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Apple base: Toss together sliced apples, 1/2 c. white sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg, 1 tbsp. flour and 1/4 tsp. salt. Pour into an oven-proof 8x8 baking dish. Set aside.

Topping: Mix together rolled oats, 1/4 c. white sugar, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. salt. Add the cold butter and press together between finger tips and thumbs until a coarse mixture forms, and butter is about the size of small peas. Lightly pour mixture on top of the apple base. Do not press down or the topping will become hard when cooked.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake another 30 minutes. The filling should be bubbly and the topping golden brown.

To Serve:

After removing from the oven, allow the crisp to sit 10-15 minutes (or longer) before serving, so the apple base thickens a little. Serve with vanilla ice cream or cinnamon-scented whipped cream.

Lemon Custard

I am beaming with pride as I write this. I just conquered my Mom's Lemon Custard recipe, pictured here. I pulled out the tattered, stained recipe card with her writing on it ("NB: 3/4 cup sugar") and felt her guiding me as I zested the lemon rind and whipped the egg whites. The results speak for themselves. A golden, spongey cake topping gives way to a creamy, cool, lemony custard underneath. You must try this.

Lemon Custard

2 eggs, separated
2 tbsp. shortening
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sugar
rind of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c. milk

Beat the egg yolks and add the shortening, flour, sugar, salt, lemon rind and lemon juice. Slowly add the milk until well incorporated. Beat egg whites until stiff, and fold gently into the liquid mixture.

Lightly grease 6 ramekins and fill about halfway with lemon custard mixture. Place ramekins in an ovenproof container large enough to hold them all comfortably, and add water from a recently boiled kettle until it comes about half way up the ramekins. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Cool on a rack, then refrigerate until chilled.

To Serve:

Find a beautiful napkin and your favourite spoon (preferably a special one for this old-fashioned dessert), sit down comfortably, breathe deeply and slowly feel the sweet squelch of the spongy lemony cake and cool, sweet bath of the custard melt your worries away.