Apple Cake
Originally found at My Recipes
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 large), peeled and cut into thin wedges
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Stir together butter and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.
3. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apples and 1 cup pecans. (Batter will be very thick, similar to a cookie dough.) Spread batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.
4. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 45 minutes).
5. Soften cream cheese to room temperature. Stir in vanilla extract, then slowly add in powdered sugar until creamy and smooth. Spread onto cooled cake.
My Notes:
Original recipe called for nuts, but my roommate is allergic to them, so I made do without. I also used Fuji apples instead of Granny Smith, since they didn't have any more Granny Smith apples at the orchard when I went. Any baking apple should work just fine.
My other roommate is in love with it. She says that despite my complaints that I can't bake, I really can. My response was that I can make cakes and cookies just fine, but anything that requires yeast never turns out right for me. Ever.
The batter is very liquidy, and as it is made up of mostly eggs and butter, it doesn't set up as well as some cakes might, so it will be sticky. It's good, though. Nice and moist, even days after it's made.
The butter and frosting make it dairy. I'm partial to my cream cheese frosting, so I'm sticking with that, but go ahead and modify if you think you have a frosting that will work better.
