Adventures in Fall Baking Week 3: Apple Coffee Cake

Because I am good at learning things...

I have decided to forego this week's planned recipe, which was Martha Stewart's Acorn Squash and Honey Pie. I just couldn't bring myself to fail at another recipe, and this one had a high possibility for failure. The weird thing about making Martha Stewart recipes is that I feel like she's there...watching me..."tsk tsk"ing with her arms crossed and her perfectly coifed head shaking back and forth gracefully.

So I tossed it out the window and let my daughter pick the recipe, since she would be helping me again this week.

And she selected...wait for it...

Apple Coffee Cake!

This is the recipe we used from the fabulous Love in the Oven blog. Click "Read More" to see how we did!

Now, I'll admit something...I didn't make this cake. I was busy making other things that needed to be made. I was so busy, in fact, that I forwarded the recipe to my daughter and told her if she wanted apple coffee cake, she was free to make it herself. 

I was half-expecting her to back out, but she didn't! She took to the task like a pro. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures, but here's one of her chopping apples:

She was phenomenal. She gathered all of her ingredients and measured them out carefully. She read the whole recipe like three times before she started so she could get an idea of what the heck she was supposed to be doing. And then...she did it!

I will say that she and I discussed a few minor modifications. We wanted to cake to be extra apple-y, so instead of sour cream in the above recipe, we used apple cider. And then of course we added 2 large chopped Granny Smith apples to the batter right before baking. The resulting cake was very soft and crumbly, and didn't have the heavier, denser texture she was hoping to get. So she's a wee bit disappointed. But now we know! And the taste is still divine.

We also split the batter between two round pans instead of using a bundt pan, in the hopes that it would bake faster and the chef would be able to sample her work before bedtime. 

Fortunately, that worked! 

Look at this color!

Except then I tried to take the first one out of the pan too soon and it crumbled and fell into a zillion chunks.

Turns out, a zillion chunks of Apple Coffee Cake is just as good as a perfectly cut slice:

Om nom nom nom. 

After she went to bed I set up a more "professional" photo shoot using a slice removed carefully from the other pan. 

"How do you like THEM apples?!" I cried more than once while we were baking. 

And my daughter would smile and nod as you would with a mental patient, quietly wondering why her mother is so absolutely nuts. 

Then one day she'll see Good Will Hunting and all will be forgiven. 

APPLE COFFEE CAKE!! (from recipe above, with modifications noted)

Ingredients:

• 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider (*modified from sour cream)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1¼ cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large Granny smith apples peeled, cored, and diced (*added to original recipe for our purposes)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 10" round cake pans (*modified from original recipe). In a bowl, combine the eggs, 1 cup of the apple cider and the vanilla.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt for about 30 seconds. Next, add the butter and 1/2 cup remaining apple cider and mix on low until just combined. Turn up the speed of the mixer to medium and mix for an additional 30 seconds.
3. Slow down the mixer and add the first egg and apple cider mixture in 3 separate additions, beating for 30 seconds and scraping the bowl after each addition to make sure everything is combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional minute.
4. Stir in the apples with the wooden spoon.
5. Pour the batter into the cake pans and smooth the top.
6. Bake for approximately 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pan to a rack and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing.

XOXO