Warm Apple Cake

A nice rainy night...sitting with blankets wrapped around you, watching a nice easy movie... enjoying the chill..:) It is at these times that we crave for some nice warm dessert..:)

When I checked the weather in the morning...I realised that such nights are going to be in fashion soon :) I saw some nice Granny Smith Apples lying in the fruit basket at home. Am not a big fan of apple pies....maybe because I dint try the best of those. So I decided to try something a little less sweet. After a lot of searching and browsing and reading...APPLE CAKE became almost a top priority for the day!

This apple cake is moist and a little dense. Tastes great with some cold vanilla ice-cream, drizzled with caramel or honey too.

A little more about baking apples...right below this recipe..:)

Level: Easy
Serves: 9 medium sized pieces

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped baking apples (I used Granny Smiths)
1.5 cups plain flour
1 tsp soda-bi-carbonate
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
3 tblsp milk (I used 2%)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 - 4 cloves
Pinch of salt

Method:
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 350 Deg. F. Spray some oil in a 9 inch baking tray. Keep aside.

Step 2 - In a grinder, finely grind together the cinnamon stick and cloves.Sift together the plain flour, soda-bi-carbonate, cinnamon-clove powders and salt. Keep aside.

Step 3 - In a large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar and egg till it turns into a pale yellow color and you can no longer feel the rough sugar texture in the mixture. (Preferably use an electric whisk. Life would be simpler)

Step 4 - Add vanilla essence, milk and apples. Mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula till all of it comes together. Once it all comes together, quickly beat with an electric whisk for no more than a minute. We do not want to mash the apples in here. Just slightly break them down.

Step 5 - Pour the batter in the greased baking tray from step 1 and bake in the oven for 35 - 40 mins, till the top of the cake starts to crack and is a nice brown color. You need not insert a knife to check this cake, as if you poke the knife into a hot apple, you will end up with moist crumbs on the knife, which does not necessarily mean that the cake is uncooked or undercooked.

Let the cake cool down a little, then turn it out on a wire rack to cool further.

Serve warm.

Happy cooking everyone!

Tips:
You can avoid using spices in this cake and keep it plain vanilla if you prefer.

Almost any apple can be enjoyed when eaten fresh. However, not all apples are ideal for the kitchen.

The best baking apples offer a balance of sweet and tart flavors as well as flesh that doesn't break down in the oven.

Apples that can be fearlessly used for baking would be Cortland, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, McIntosh, Newton Pippin, Rhode Island Greening, Rome Beauty and Winesap.

Hope this helps!