To be more specific, it's the favorite of our next cookbook author! Tara Teaspoon, who wrote the new cookbook, Delicious Gatherings, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen with a sweet idea! Apple Pudding Cake with Butter Sauce. Now the interest thing about this cake is it's not as dense as the apple cake you're thinking of. And the consistency of the cake translates to more of a pudding style but still holds up as a cake. As for the kinds of apples you can use, Tara says use the one's you would normally and like. She does recommend apples on the tarter side of flavor, like Empires or Granny Smiths.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 4 cups grated apple, any variety, from 3 to 4 cored apples
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
- 2 cups granulated sugar, plus more for pan
- 2 large eggs
Butter Sauce
- ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (12-ounce can) evaporated milk
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
For the cake: Heat oven to 350.F. Brush a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan generously with extra butter. Sprinkle pan with extra sugar, then tap out excess. Set pan aside.
Stir together flour, pecans, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a food processor or with a box grater, shred apples with the skin on. You should have 4 cups grated apple.
In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar with the paddle attachment. Add eggs and beat until mixture is fluffy. Stir in apples (and any juice they produce) and flour mixture until completely combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and cake pulls slightly away from the sides of the pan, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Tent cake with foil for the last half hour of baking to prevent overbrowning.
Let cool on a wire rack, about 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to remove from pan. Let cool completely.
For the butter sauce: In a saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer all butter sauce ingredients, stirring, for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Serve the sauce warm over slices of cake or serve sauce on the side and let guests add a generous amount of warm sauce to each slice of cake.
Garnish with apple crisps, if desired.
NOTE The cake and sauce can be made a day in advance. Allow both to cool completely before storing. Cover cake with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Refrigerate butter sauce and reheat in microwave or saucepan to serve.
