Thursday, December 29, 2011

Donna Alward's Shenandoah Apple Cake!

Note to all: Ruthy is married to Dave whose favorite old movie is: "Shenandoah" so Ruthy is pretty darn sure this recipe was just meant for the Yankee-Belle Cafe!  Because that's how Ruthy thinks.

Recipe Time!

I like to cook. Incidentally, so do my girls, and when we ended up with a huge amount of cooking apples, we went searching for recipes.

I found one in a homemade cookbook my sister gave me one Christmas - some of her fave recipes as well as all the ones from my Mom's notebook recipe book. It's
Shenandoah Apple Cake and we tweaked it just a little for our preferences. The girls made this on their own and it was SOOOOO good. Since apple season is just about over, I wanted to share it with you. It's perfect for cool fall days.

You can make it without the sauce if you like - it's still plenty moist and is really good with ice cream.

1 cup cooking oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ¼ tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped nuts
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg

Beat oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl at medium speed (about 3 min). Sift together in a separate bowl – flour, salt, soda, spices. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet, beating well after each additions. Stir in apples, then nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 13x9 pan, bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done (mine took between 50 and 55 minutes).

For topping combine ½ cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar (packed) and ¼ cup milk in a saucepan. Cook over med heat, stirring constantly, until it boils. Boil 3 minutes, pour on cake at once and let cool.

You can eat it once it's cool, but truthfully it's better on the second day after the sauce has soaked in....mmmmm!

16 comments:

  1. Oooh, oooh, oooh! I have a bunch of apples in my fridge just waiting for a recipe like this! Thanks so much, Donna and Ruthy!

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  2. Jan, you late-bird you! I haven't had a chance to make this yet or you'd have gotten pics, but it sounds like a 'can't resist' bit of fall-appleeee-goodness, doesn't it????

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  3. It sure does, Ruthy (you early-bird you)!

    You do know I'm on Mountain Time, right? Your 4:51 am is my "I'm sleeping and don't you dare wake me for anything less than an emergency" time.

    This cake sounds so rich and decadent - a perfect candidate for sharing with company or at a potluck. Of course, we'll have to try it here at home, first!

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  4. Oh this looks DELICIOUS! Donna, I'm not sure how you have the willpower to wait til the next day.

    Hmmm, you could make two at once I guess! :)

    Tempting to do it today but I'm supposed to be doing #1k1hr. ;)

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  5. what's #1k1hr?
    I hate that 'better on the 2nd day' stuff! it's the same with my mom's potato salad and chicken spaghetti except there's very little left by the 2nd day! of course mary's suggeston of making 2 at once makes sense!
    Susanna

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  6. Susanna, #1k1hr is a writing challenge on Twitter. Donna posted about it over at Seekerville today.

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  7. And Carol started a 1K1HR group on facebook. Tina called her a GENIUS.

    Tina has never called me a genius. I'm 'bout half dead insane with jealousy and green-eyed monsters, but cannot wait to try this cake!!!!

    Doing a wedding cake today. Soon, though. Soon.

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  8. Heeeee heee you guys crack me up. Some day I'll tell you my genius story, but not today. Maybe over coffee at conference.... LOL.

    Susanna - would it help if I said it's a REALLY big cake? So it's really good the first day and there is enough left over for the 2nd? Unless you have a lot of company. :-)

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  9. Donna, welcome!! This sounds soooo yummy! I'll have to add the ingredients to my grocery list. Thanks for sharing!

    Y'all, I've been out of town with NO INTERNET! Just got back a few minutes ago. I've had withdrawl. :) But it was a great time with my parents and sister and husband in KY. :)

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  10. Missy, that NO internet it HARD, isn't it? I was visiting my mom and sister in the suburbs of Philly. They don't have wireless. I was able to pick up a very weak signal but it really wasn't much fun because it was so slow. Not that we have much online time when visiting family, but STILL! I'm used to being connected.

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  11. Mary, my kids talked about how wired we all are nowadays. It was tough for them. They went to B&N last night a spent a few hours just to connect back in the real world. :)

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  12. Sounds yummy!

    Tonight I made an Iron Skillet Apple Pie - absolutely delicious - served warm with ice cream!

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  13. Oh Edwina, that sounds amazing also. This place is so good for my waistline. I can read all these yummy recipes and pretend I ate them. :)

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  14. You all should subscribe to Donna's newsletter. She shares yummy recipes monthly.

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  15. Oh, Teeeeena, that's a great idea. A writer who actually does her newsletter MONTHLY...

    Alward's a brat. 'Sall I'm sayin'. She makes the rest of us look like slackers, but I must contact Edwina and have her sign up to share that Iron Skillet Apple Pie. How fun would that be to serve????

    I love iron skillets. Just love 'em.

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  16. Edwina, that does sound so good! I looked at iron skillets while at Walmart last week. Several shapes and sizes. Was very tempted to get another. I just have one small one that was inherited from hubby's grandmother. It sounds like the pie may need a larger one! :)

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