Yummy Bundt Fail

Apple Cake

Yes, I've had another flop. Am I approaching 50/50? Probably. But I refuse to stop trying! This cake may have been broken, but it was absolutely delicious and comforting and everything that an apple cake should be. This cake was like your typical engineer, maybe not ridiculously good looking, but so warm gooey and delicious inside, that you're can't imagine having not given it a chance.

I'm in love with cinnamon. I love cinnamon with rolled oats and yoghurt, I love it with almost any fruit dish, and I will happily buy almost anything cinnamon flavoured, be it edible or otherwise. I could sit and smell it all day.. It makes me think of Christmas, and dreams with clouds and unicorns and Prince Charming.. Speaking of Prince Charming, do you think I could convince Ralph to find someone who can make our entire wedding smell like Cinnamon?

That's my cool apple cutter gadget! See how it cuts out the core AND makes slices? AND has a hole in it so you can hang it off a hook OR on your keychain?? Amazing..

My wonderful Ani gave me a bundt pan for second Christmas (which is just after Christmas and actually her birthday), and I had yet to try it out. And seeing as my addiction to Smitten Kitchen is blossoming at a speed that is likely to get me some sort of website restraining order soon, I had to make her moms apple cake. The problem was.. My bundt pan didn't have a removable center, and my cake refused to come out! So pretty much half of the cake came out, and half stayed in the pan. There is is happy side to the story though! I recently bought Joy the Baker's cookbook, and it's got some hints on getting cakes out of bundt pans, so I plan to keep trying! The key seems to be to let it cool for about half an hour before trying to get it out, but not longer.

Apple Cake
From Smitten Kitchen

6 smallish apples (I used Pink Lady)
1 tblsp cinnamon
5 tblsp sugar

2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 tblsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
60 ml orange juice
2 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs

1) Preheat oven to 180 C and thoroughly, thoroughly butter and flour the bundt pan.
2) Peel all the apples, remove the cores, and cut into small chunks. Add the cinnamon
3) Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
4) Mix together the oil, orange juice, vanilla and eggs in a separate bowl.
5) Mix the wet ingredients into the dry.
6) Pour half of the batter into the pan, then sprinkle half of the apples on top. Pour in the other half and top with the rest of the apples.
7) Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a skewer comes out clean.

I can't wait to experiment with this recipe. It's only got cinnamon so there are so many options for cloves, and nutmeg. I think I want to try the same spice mix as the apple pie next time.