I will miss the genius of Steve Jobs!
Apples, I'm going to be bold enough to say are the greatest fruit! Remember the old adage "An apple a day keeps the Doctor away." Yes, I do too! My Mom and Grandmother used to hound me when I was younger about eating apples. It wasn't until later in life that I discovered that you can sneak apples into the deliciousness of baked goods and I contend, counts as your apple a day to keep the doctor away. Hey, as long as your using fresh Organic apples, why the heck wouldn't it count, right?
Sadly, while I was planning my apple dessert for this past weekend it was announced that the genius Steve Jobs passed away as a result of his long battle with Cancer. Everyone who knows me (and my husband) personally knows that I have a big Apple obsession! I love all things Mac/Apple! I have a MacBook Pro that I write this blog on, an iPad, an iPhone and that's not even talking about my husbands collection of Apple products. Apple is superior, Apple is just better! Steve Jobs was the genius behind Apple and as everyone knows was a true innovator. I can't wait to read his authorized biography that is coming out later this month and read about his life. He had apparently only contributed to and authorized the biography, not for us (his fans) but for his children, so that they could know him. How amazing is that? Apples the fruit and Apple the company! Both great in their own way. Only one suffered a great loss this past week.
One of my favorite Apple recipes is a Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for her fresh Apple-Walnut Cake. Apart from the brown sugar, the main sweetening agent in the recipe is Maple Syrup! Please do NOT confuse Maple Syrup with Pancake Syrup! These two items are very different.
The recipe for the Spiced-Apple Walnut Cake with Cream Cheese Icing can be found here. I would imagine that if you are not fond of the spices used in this recipe that you could mix it up a bit or omit the spices entirely, but I cannot vouch for how the cake would taste without the spice combination in the recipe. I personally follow this recipe to the letter.
The ingredients for the cake itself are displayed below. Always remember to use a tart apples such as Granny Smith for baked apple recipes (most baked apple recipes anyway).
I was trying to be artistic with an apple display, perhaps I should take a photography class and/or maybe get a better camera?!
Here is the naked cake fresh out of the oven, The recipe states that it should take 55 to 60 minutes to bake, mine took longer. I don't know how much longer because I kept on testing the cake and finding it was still wet, and setting the timer for another 10-15 minutes each time. As I mentioned previously in this blog, you're just want to going to bake it until it's done. That applies for this recipe as much as any of the others.
The Icing ingredients are displayed below. Giada suggests adding a bit of water to the icing in order to thin it out and make it pourable. I prefer for the icing to be a bit thicker therefore I do not add the water, but if you want to add some water to make it more pourable I can't imagine that would be a bad thing (just be careful not to add too much water).
The finished cake with the fresh icing having dripped down the sides is displayed below. Yum!
Now, after icing it I put it in the refrigerator to let it set up a little bit. The icing does not harden when refrigerated, but it gets a little bit more firm.
Upon slicing, you see the fresh bits of apple and the Icing adds just the right amount of sweetness. My Aunt Eileen is holding a slice of the cake below.
Everyone who tasted it complimented the cake! It is moist and the fresh bits of apple are absolutely delicious studded throughout. I hope that, if you make it, you enjoy it as much as we did!
