DOUBLE APPLE BUNDT CAKE

This recipe was chosen specifically with my father-in-law in mind. You see, my FIL is a diabetic, and he loves apples. Even as a non-diabetic, I know that the store bought desserts that are available to diabetics are slim on variety and extremely slim on flavor, because I've sampled a few in my attempts to cut back on sugar in my diet. My attempts have rarely worked, in part because the creators of these store bought creations seem to think of "tasty" as an afterthought. The other reason is because sugar and I have a long and torrid love affair that will never truly end, because I'm faithful to my vices.

Back to my FIL. He says that "there needs to be more sugar free food...that tastes good!" So my goal was to modify this apple cake into something that he could enjoy without the guilt of being bad. As I said, he loves apples, and in addition to apples the cake calls for a lot of spices that would help out in giving this sugar free recipe extra flavor that would be needed to compensate for the Splenda that I would be substituting (blah!).

The cake turned out well, and had a strong apple-y flavor. The middle was moist but the outer edge was slightly dry. Here is another recipe in this book where the cooking time is way off. And no, I didn't use the convection setting on the oven this time. You're supposed to bake the cake for 55-65 minutes and check for doneness. I baked for 35 minutes and it was definitely ready to be pulled from the oven. If I had baked it for the full amount of time it would have become a cinder.

I would definitely like to try making the full sugar version of this cake, and I think it would be great to take to a pot luck occasion. The spices (cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg) appeal to a wide audience, and really makes this cake scream "autumn". The cookbook gives you a glaze recipe that is optional, but I prefer a tasty cake like this to be served naked. Mmmmm nakedness.

A side note about this picture. I've been trying really hard to make improvements to my food photography, but I think it may be a lost cause. So if you come to this sight for the pictures...too bad. I can't be good at everything, I'm an awesome baker, isn't that enough for you?

Moist Double Apple Bundt Cake

■2 cups of flour

■2 tsp baking powder

■1/2 tsp baking soda

■1 tsp cinnamon

■1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (seriously, grate your own…it is easy and it makes a huge difference in flavor)

■1/4 tsp cloves

■1/4 tsp salt

■10 tbs butter at room temperature

■3/4 cup brown sugar

■3/4 cup sugar

■2 eggs at room temperature

■1 tsp maple flavoring

■1 cup apple butter

■2 apples grated – don’t peel if they are organic

■1 cup pecans, chopped

■1 cup dried cranberries

1.Preheat oven to 350F

2.Grease and flour a bundt cake pan

3.Sift the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Set aside

4.Beat the butters and sugar at medium speed about 3 minutes.

5.Add the eggs, one at a time beating for a minute or two after each addition

6.Add the flavoring and switch mixer speed to low

7.Spoon in the apple butter slowly, mixing all the while

8.Add in the grated apple

9.Still on low mix in the sifted dry ingredients mixing only until blended

10.Fold in the pecans and cranberries carefully.

11.Spoon into bundt pan, smooth the top and back for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted between the metal tube and the outside edge comes away clean. Time will depend on moisture content of the apples. My cake took 70 minutes to bake

12.Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes, turn out and finish cooling completely

13.Wrap tightly and hold overnight