Chunky Apple Cake

Okay, y'all. I've got a good one for you today.

Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Need I say more?

This is a great "cake" for fall. I kind of associate apple dishes with fall. Don't you?

It's September. Even though fall doesn't officially start for a few more weeks, September just feels like fall, doesn't it? I decided this past weekend was a perfect time to make apple stuff (a nickname for my chunky apple cake that was given by my friend Patrick) to take to a friend's house for dessert.

If you like apple desserts, you should try this one.

For the cake, you will need:

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I recommend not slicing the apples until you've mixed the cake ingredients together, because apples turn brown quickly after they're sliced.

Stir together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl, until it's well-blended. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, and blend well. It will taste really good and look like this when you're done.

Now, core, peel, and slice 4 Granny Smith apples. They will look like this.

Add the apples to the tasty mixture you have in the large bowl. This is where it gets tricky, or should I say "sticky"? I have never been able to get the apple slices well-coated unless I literally stick my hands in the bowl and mix it all together. If you don't like getting your hands dirty, this recipe is not for you. On the other hand, if you like to lick yummy stuff off your fingers after you're done mixing, you will love this!

Put your hands in there (hopefully you washed them), and mix everything together until the apple slices are coated with the cinnamon mixture. This will be your cake. Pour it into a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan, and put it in a 350 degree oven. Bake it for 45 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean (or with just a few crumbs).

While it's baking, if you're like me, you'll wash all the dishes you had sitting in your sink before you started this process, along with the ones you just dirtied. If you're lucky, you'll have time to sit down and catch up on your email or your favorite blogs. If you happen to be looking for a good blog to read, here's one that I just found, and I am really enjoying it. Chatting at the Sky. Go on over there and see what you think. Oh, and don't be mad at me if you wind up reading for hours. =)

Okay, when the cake is finished, put it on a wire rack to cool completely. While it's cooling, mix up the cream cheese frosting. To do that, you will need:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 8 oz package light cream cheese, softened

1.5 cups powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Begin by beating the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer (on medium) until it's creamy. Gradually add the sugar and salt, beating until well-blended. Add the vanilla at the end, and beat for another few seconds to make sure it's mixed through.

When the cake has cooled completely, spread the frosting on top. I store this cake in the refrigerator overnight before serving it, which enhances all the flavors, but you can serve it however you'd like. I hope you enjoy it! If you do try this recipe, I'd love for you to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Side Note: In the original recipe, which is from the September 2001 issue of Southern Living, they include 1 cup of chopped walnuts in the cake (added at the same time as the apples), and they also sprinkle walnuts on top of the frosting. I'm not a nut person, so I've always omitted the nuts, and they have never been missed.