Granny's Apple Cake

Last fall one of the books we read for "school" was The Apple Cake I don't remember why we never ended up making the apple cake recipe in the book at that point, but we didn't. Recently L has re-claimed this book as one of her favorite bedtime stories (she "reads" it herself) so today we made the cake recipe on the back of the book. Warning, this is an ALL DAY process. My perceptive children pointed out that if the cake takes this long, how did the woman in the story get home from being gone all day & then make the cake & eat it for supper. Perhaps we should write the publisher LOL. Anyway . . . the cake is currently cooling (SO isn't going to "cool completely before we dig into it LOL) but it seems to have turned out well.

ETA: The whole wheat flour makes it taste "healthy" but the girls enjoyed it. I think I'll do the "optional topping" next time but overall it was good. The girls each ate 2 pieces so I'd say it was a hit :)


Granny's Apple Cake
4 c flour (we used whole wheat)
1 c + 1 Tbsp lukewarm milk (about 105F)
2 tsp dried yeast
1/2 c butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 c sugar (we used sucanet)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon or grated lemon peel (we used cinnamon)
2/3 c raisins (the girls opted to skip this, which was fine w/ me)
3 tart apples, cut into little pieces (we used Macintosh apples, and it seemed like a LOT of apples for the amount of batter)
powdered sugar (skipped)

Optional topping: (skipped)
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c melted butter

Sift flour into mixing bowl, make small well in center & pour yeast into it. Add half the milk & stir yeast to a crumbly dough. Let stand 10 min. Add rest of milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt & cinnamon or lemon peel, and stir well. Cover loosely with clean cloth & let rise about 2 hours until doubled in size (I didn't notice much change in size, shrug). Carefully stir in apples & raisins.Turn into greased & floured cake pan. Allow to rise again (about 1/2 hr).
Optional topping: Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over cake.
Bake in the bottom of the oven at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before turning the cake out. Shake powdered sugar over the cake. Let cool completely for several hours before serving (NOT gonna happen LOL).