The Best Apple Cake
There are few things I like more than apple cake.
I’ve already written about my search for the perfect apple cake here; in fact, I’d pretty much declared my search over. Well, I grumbled that “it just might be,” which isn’t exactly the same thing.
I had resigned myself to the fact that I’d never recreate the apple cake I first fell in love with, the one from the communal dining room kibbutz my mother grew up on, the recipe jealously kept by the old ladies who made it.
Until I found this one.
And this one is better.
My college roommate and good friend Kat is the person who started me baking all those years ago when we shared a lovely apartment and the need to get through frigid Montreal winters. Some kids turned to drugs, everyone turned to alcohol, Kat and I turned to baking. Or, rather, I turned to watching Kat bake.
It’s anecdotal and subjective, sure, but the the four years I spent in Canada were filled with the best baked goods I’d ever had. So I happen to think that Canadians are the best bakers. There’s something about the wholesomeness of it, something ordinary and extraordinary about it. Like most things that are based purely on feelings over fact, it’s hard to describe.
Kat now lives with her family in British Columbia and still sends me recipes she think’ll I like (see: easy).
And this one? Is the best ever. Yes, I said it. It’s the best apple cake. It’s a one-bowl wonder. It’s crunchy on top, soft inside, easy to make, easy to mess with, full of apple flavor. It’s what I’ve been searching for all these years. And it might just be what you didn’t know you were searching for, too.
SISTER MONICA’S APPLE CAKE
The batter will be very thick and stodgy (see photo below), don’t worry, that’s how it should be. I’m reproducing Sister Monica’s version of the recipe in full, with my changes in italics. Kat got this recipe from her in-laws who got it from their daughter, Sister Monica, who got it from the Sisters of Life, the order of nuns she belongs to, and they’ve kindly let us print it here. Many thanks to the Sisters of Life and to Kat . Makes two loaves or one very large cake.
3 cups diced apples (I used 5 apples which ended up being 5 cups )
1 cup walnut pieces (I left this out because walnuts are gross)
1/2 cup raisins, if desired (I did not desire)
1 cup oil (I used vegetable oil)
2 cups sugar (makes the top and sides crunchy)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I left this out)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Prepare apples and nuts; set aside. Beat eggs, oil, sugar and salt until smooth. Add in baking soda, vanilla and spices. Add in flour; blend well. Add in fruit and nuts. (Ed: the batter will be really thick and heavy, and hard to mix. Just use a big heavy spoon and do your best until it’s all uniform.) Spoon batter into two (greased with butter, I assume) loaf pans or a tube pan. Bake for 1 to 1.5 hours in a preheated oven. Cool.
Looking for other apple cakes? I’ve got ‘em!
