Apple Cinnamon Cake

                                                  Apple cinnamon cake

I hate eating apples. However as every army wife knows it is a staple is most army rations. So every week I am laden with apples which just sit on my dining table. It is a pain to see those apples go to waste.

I love trawling through recipes on blogs, food sites, tv shows, magazines..in fact wherever I can. When I open a magazine I first check out the recipes. In one of my searches I came across this wonderful recipe. It included a cream cheese filling. It is difficult to find cream cheese in small cities. So I have omitted the cream cheese filling. This required me to adjust the recipe a bit. The end product however  is awesome.

Apple cinnamon cake

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon powder

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp salt

3 medium apples, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 ¼ cup oil

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

Method

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celcius.

Grease and line a square baking pan. I often run out of baking paper. So I usually raid my husband’s stationary and use an A4 sheet of white paper. Works just as well. In fact it is very important that you line the tin as it makes the cake come out smoothly.

Mix together flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. i use cinnamon and nutmeg powder by Keya. 

Mix the chopped apples with lemon juice and brown sugar.

Blend together oil and sugar. Since you are using granulated sugar the mixture won’t turn light and fluffy. Just use a hand mixer for about 2 minutes.

 Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.

Add the flour mix and fold in gently using a spatula.

 Drain the apples and add to the mix. 

Here is where I depart from the recipe a bit. Since the original recipe was meant for a cream cheese filling the batter is quite sticky. I don’t like my batter to be so tough.

So I add about 5-6 tbsp of milk to make it more pliable.

Pour the mix in the prepared tin. The baking time required is about 40 minutes. However many people complain that their cake burns at the top. This is because of the thermostat adjustment of your oven. I have found that all ovens do not heat equally. This is partly due to the voltage fluctuations in most army houses. I always set my first timer for 20 minutes. It is usually after the first 20 minutes that the cake top starts to burn. I then cover the top lightly with some aluminum foil and set the timer for another 10-15 minutes. I have found it handy not to completely go by the recipe, set it for 40 odd minutes and end up with a burnt cake. So check as you proceed and the cake will turn out beautiful golden brown.

The smell of baking makes you want to dig into the cake as soon as possible. However let it cool down and then turn it over. Peel off the paper and VOILA!!!