John Verlinden
Photo: Rachel Power
By: John Verlinden*/TRT Columnist—
New England is famous for our beautiful fall weather. Tourists travel here from all over to experience it, and who doesn’t feel that warm sense of amazement at nature’s beauty as you turn a corner and behold the trees ablaze with their stunning foliage? Nevertheless, I have a love/hate relationship with fall. Sure, the change of seasons is amazing, but I also dread it because I know what lurks behind that gorgeous, fleeting facade – freezing temperatures, bare trees, buckets of snow and a landscape that’s mainly gray to brown.
Thank goodness for the wonderful foods we get to enjoy this time of year – the vegetable harvest, steamy soups and delicious baked goods, along with New England’s greatest gift – apples! I love it when those little tote bags of McIntosh, Jonathan, Delicious and more start showing up everywhere. A fresh slice of apple cake makes it all a little more bearable.
My Favorite Apple Cake
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus a couple dashes each of nutmeg and ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of water
2 teaspoons of vanilla
3 cups of pared and finely chopped apples (McIntosh are my favorite)
1/2 cup of toasted slivered almonds (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking pan (either grease and dust with flour or use nonstick baking spray).
3. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, oil, water, vanilla and apples.
5. Gradually, add dry ingredients and combine all together (it will seem really thick for cake batter).
6. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
This cake is delicious as is for breakfast or as a quick bread. Jazz it up a bit for dessert by heating together half a cup butter and half a cup of brown sugar in a saucepan, bringing it to a boil on top of the stove for a few minutes. Next, drizzle over the top of the cake. Delicious!
*To share your favorite fall recipe with me, tell me what you love/hate about autumn, ask a question or suggest a topic for the future article, contact me at john@muchogusto.com or visit www.muchogusto.com and join our Latin food forum.
Until next time – ¡Mucho Gusto!, ¡Muchas Gracias! y ¡Buen Provecho!
