Apple Spice Cake

This recipe for apple spice cake was part of our thanksgiving meal, so many weeks ago. The recipe was clipped from a magazine by my mom and pasted into her recipe collection. I wish I knew what magazine it was from---I'm going to guess Health, but I could be wrong. What appealed to me about this cake was that it included whole wheat flour. My early days of using whole wheat flour as a substitute when baking resulted in several disasters such as seized dough and heavy, flat baked goods. Therefore, this was an experiment to see if it was possible to make a light, moist cake. Most of the moisture in this cake can be attributed to the apple chunks, which, along with the nuttiness of the whole wheat flour, give the cake a rustic feel. One derivation I made from the recipe is that I peeled the apples. I didn't really read the recipe too closely, so my extra step was a mistake, however I think having the peels in on the apples would interrupt the texture of the cake. As my family and I observed, this is almost a snack cake or tea time cake just because it just seems more easy to eat right out of your hand instead of on a proper plate with a fork. This makes a great breakfast, too, along with coffee or tea. A plain glaze would be a great addition to this cake, but powdered sugar was just enough to dress up this simple, amber-colored cake. I think it would be great to add raisins or substitute the apples for other seasonal fruit. Also, there is indeed a whole tablespoon of cinnamon, but this would probably be great with pumpkin pie or apple pie spice, or any other combination of your favorite spices.

Apple Spice Cake

3/4 cup unbleached granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups peeled, chopped apples
1 cup chopped walnuts
non-stick cooking spray
1-2 tbsp powdered sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugars, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Beat on low speed until blended. Add all other ingredients except apples and nuts and beat on low speed, about 1 minute, until blended. Fold in apples and nuts. Spread batter in pan.
3. Bake 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack about 1 hour.
4. Decorate the cooled cake with a little powdered sugar or make a plain glaze.







Servings per recipe: 20
Per serving:
Calories: 240
Fat: 10 g
Saturated fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 20 mg
Sodium: 150 mg
Carbohydrates: 34 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 18 g
Protein: 4 g