Mama’s Fresh Apple Cake

My Mama passed away in December of 1997, but this is the fresh apple cake she used to make at Christmas. I have no idea where the idea of adding in cold coffee came from but you could leave that out if you want to, because it does give a bit of coffee flavor to the finished cake. All I know is this is a light and tender, yummy cake full of nutty apple goodness!

Mama's notes said that this could be baked in loaf pans or in a tube pan, but the pan I use is my Mama's old tube pan and that is what she used. (I often wonder just how old that thing is now!) Her pan is a light colored aluminum tube pan - the kind of pan that has a separate tube insert. This is the kind of pan you would use for angel food cake. It works well for this cake since this is such a tender cake, and also typical non-stick pans that have a darker colored interior tend to produce a very dark and unattractive almost burned look to the outside of this type of cake. Using this light colored aluminum tube pan produces a much lighter and prettier crust on your cake. I'm not sure that it would turn out in a bundt pan, because it is very tender and delicate and I'm guessing it would fall apart. I also haven't ever tried the loaf pans for this recipe either.

Let the cake cool completely for more uniform and easier slicing. I'm always scared to try to turn it off of the tube insert, so I usually just do like my Mama did and slice it right off of the insert and straight to the goodies tray for the Christmas table!

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Mama’s Fresh Apple Cake
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups White Lily all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup of fresh cold, mild coffee, optional*
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a tube pan with Baker's Joy non-stick cooking spray with flour; set aside.

Cream the shortening and sugar together until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of mixer bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.

Sift all of the dry ingredients together. Add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar, alternating with the cold coffee (or substitute water) and ending with the flour, blending well and stopping to scrape down sides of mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes until fluffy.

Coat the raisins and nuts very lightly with a bit of additional flour. This step helps to keep the raisins and nuts suspended throughout the cake and helps to keep them from all falling to the bottom. Add the chopped apples (this is where that Vidalia chopper comes in real handy), raisins and nuts to batter and stir well. Pour into the prepared tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until toothpicks inserted into the middle come out clean. Allow to rest for a few minutes until pan is cool enough to handle. Run a knife carefully around the outside edges and around the tube and then gently push the bottom of the tube pan in to separate the insert. Allow the cake to fully cool leaving the bottom insert in of the pan in place and slice it right off of the tube pan insert!

Note: Mama used coffee in her fresh apple cake, but it does leave a distinct coffee taste. I actually prefer her cake without the coffee and it is excellent. Just substitute water in place of it.

A Little Lagniappe

Although not a part of my Mama's original recipe, I thought that a little drizzle of that Whiskey Sauce from my bread pudding would be delicious on this cake. That is what is pictured at the top and gotta say, it certainly is. This butter pecan glaze is another good one to use too though.

Butter Pecan Glaze (not pictured)

1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of pecans
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of corn syrup

Melt butter; add pecans & cook over medium heat about 1 minute. Add in the brown sugar, cream and corn syrup and bring to a boil, boiling for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool until thickened and drizzle over the cake. Reserve some to drizzle over individual slices if desired.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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