Apple Spice Cake with Walnut Brown Sugar Glaze

Windows open.  Cool crisp air seeps into the house.  My feet are oddly chilled and I search for a pair of thick socks.  I enjoy a few deep breaths, the evening fall air filling my lungs and giving me a bit of a rush.  A warm cup of coffee warms my hands as I gaze at the evening sky, streaked with pinks and oranges, and many many many jet streams (where are all the people coming from and going to?).  Stan stands at the screen door, completely entertained by the moths just out of reach.  September baseball plays quietly on the TV … all while the first of many fall desserts bakes away in the oven.

A hint of cinnamon mingles with the fall air ….warm and inviting.  Like a hug from an old friend you haven’t seen, in like, 9 months…

That is what fall is.  An old friend.  An old friend that brings apple desserts and cardigans.  Football games and hooded sweatshirts.  Cool evenings and warm blankets.  Oh fall, I have missed you.  Welcome back.

To celebrate his return (fall is a dude in my brain, and if you were wondering – spring and summer are women, and winter is a sweet old man with grumpy moments).  To celebrate, I made a cake.  I bake cakes for most anything.  If there is reason or room to celebrate…I am ready and willing to bake a cake.  And fall, well you and your return are more than deserving of a cake.  And apple cake, spiced with cinnamon and ginger, drizzled with a sweet brown sugar glaze that is heavily studded with walnuts…this is the cake I made for you, fall.

You are welcome.

Apple Spice Cake with Walnut Brown Sugar Glaze

 

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Ingredients

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• ¾ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• ¼ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ¼ Teaspoon Salt
• ½ Cup Vegetable Oil (used canola)
• 1+1/2 Cups White Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Apple Butter (used Mussleman's)
• 3 Small or 2 Medium Granny Smith Apples; peeled, cored, and grated
• 1 Cup Walnuts, roughly chopped
• ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Stick Unsalted Butter, diced
• ¼ Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Cup Walnuts, roughly Chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter (generously so) and flour a bundt pan. Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together vegetable oil and sugar.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl between additions.
5. Add apple butter and shredded apple, mix to combine.
6. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.
7. With a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in chopped walnuts.
8. Pour batter (it will be thick) into prepared bundt pan and place in preheated oven. Bake for 45-55 minutes until golden brown and toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs holding on.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes on a wire rack before turning cake out onto a cake stand. Let cool.
10. When cake is near room temperature, prepare glaze.
11. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream. Place over medium heat and bring mixture to a boil. Let boil for 3 minutes.
12. Remove from heat and stir in walnuts.
13. Pour warm glaze over cake.
14. Enjoy!

Notes

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my Home to Yours.

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