recommendation: actually DO the things you pin, apple coffee cake

I love writing about recipes and projects from pinterest because isn't that the whole point? To pin thinks you want and actually DO them instead of just looking at them?

reason: I wanted to bake for mother's day but wasn't sure what to make. Sometimes when you go on google and just randomly search ideas, the options are endless and kind of overwhelming. So I decided to go on pinterest and instead of randomly searching, I went to my mother-in-law's board to find a recipe she wanted to try. Genius! I decided to go with: Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze. It was super easy, amazing and made a lot of coffee cake! I decided to do loaf pans and it made 2 regular size and 3 mini disposable pans, so I was able to gift a few of the mothers in my life!

steps:

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze from A Whisk and a Spoon (recipe adapted from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Makes one 13x9inch sheet cake or two 8-9inch round cakes. Note: 1/3 of a recipe makes one 8.5”x 4.5” loaf pan

Fresh Apple Cake
3 cups all purpose flour (can substitute 3/4 cup with whole wheat flour)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil (or 1 cup oil plus 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups finely chopped apples
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Brown Sugar Glaze
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp evaporated milk, half-and-half or cream

Method – Fresh Apple Cake
-Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 13 by 9 inch pan or two 8-9 inch cake pans.
-In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir with a fork to mix everything together well.
-In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a wooden spoon or a mixer at low speed until pale yellow and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon and continue stirring the batter just until the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts, stir to mix them into the batter until fairly uniform. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.
-Bake for 45-50 minutes (start checking at 25 minutes if making a 1/3 recipe loaf) or until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly near the center and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Place the cake (still in the pans) on a wire rack and spoon over the glaze while still hot.

Method - Brown Sugar Glaze
-Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Then cook for 3-5 minutes.

To Finish
-Spoon the hot glaze all over the hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.
Here is the printable recipe.

final product: I was really happy with the finished product. I was a little nervous giving away the cake before tasting it but I tasted the Brown Sugar Glaze which tasted like caramel and had put so much on the tops that I knew even if the cake was eh, the glaze made up for it. Luckily the cake was YUM! I did the adjustments and substituted 3/4 cup of AP flour with whole wheat flower, and 1/2 cup oil with unsweetened applesauce. I didn't notice either and was happy to make the change! Will definitely make again and I think this would be great in the fall too!!!