All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [47]
Regardless, you probably do like apples, and you’ve got a wide variety to choose from. There are more than seven thousand different types of apples in the world, though chances are your local grocery store stocks only half a dozen types.
Rome Beauty is considered the queen of the bakers, because cooking really brings out that apply flavor. But if you like strongly tart and firm, go for Granny Smith. Prefer sweet and a little softer? Try Golden Delicious. Want a nice blend of sweet and tart and firm? Braeburns and Cortlands are good choices. How about sweet and soft? Go for Gala.
I did a taste test at ATC one Monday with four Fresh Apple Cakes (page 119), each with a different apple: Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, and Braeburn. Granny Smith and Braeburn were the clear favorites, and someone suggested combining them in one cake next time.
You’ll find that most apples do fine when baked, with one universal exception: Red Delicious. This really sweet variety is drop-dead, smack-that-wicked-Disney-stepmother gorgeous, but it gets rather mushy under heat, so avoid it for anything other than your lunch box, snacks, or salads.
Apples are available year-round because they’re very easy to store. In fact, you can keep them for weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. They might get mealy after a while, but they’ll still be edible.
Paula Deen’s Grandgirl’s Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia
Coconut Haters Beware—You Might Actually Like This Cake
* * *
YOU’ll NEED
A 10-inch tube pan
A medium saucepan
The nonbusiness end of a wooden spoon
FOR THE CAKE
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil
¼ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and chopped apples
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I prefer to shred it further in the food processor)
1 cup chopped pecans
FOR THE SAUCE
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1. Position a rack so the cake will sit in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 325 degrees F. Prepare the cake pan.
2. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.
3. OH THIS PART IS SO MUCH FUN!
In the bowl of a mixer, dump the sugar, eggs, oil, your dry ingredients mixture, orange juice, and the vanilla. Yes, dump them! All together! Then mix on medium speed until blended.
4. Fold in the apples, coconut, and pecans.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done. Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE
6. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda.
7. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 full minute, then remove from the heat.
TO FINISH THE CAKE
8. I LOVE THIS PART, TOO!!
With the hot cake still in the pan, take the handle of the wooden spoon (the nonbusiness end) and poke about 15 to 20 holes through the top of the cake. Then pour the sauce over the hot cake.
9. Let the cake stand for 1 hour in the pan before unmolding it onto a cake rack.
It will be moist. It will be sticky. It will be oh, so very gooooooooooood.
And why? Because coconut is not the predominant flavor or texture. To paraphrase President Bill Clinton’s unofficial campaign slogan from 1992, “It’s the fresh apples, stupid.”
I nabbed this recipe from Paula’s Home Cooking on the Food Network. It comes from her “Southern Seafood Show.”
I love this cake. It’s one of the three cakes I knew how to do long before I embarked upon the Cake Project, and as