Apple Season!

The first time I had this cake was 3 years ago. One of my coworkers baked it and I politely passed because I didn't "do" hot fruit. She insisted I try it so I sucked it up and prepared myself for a nasty, mushy apple dessert. What I found though was heaven.

I've made it a few times since and I swear it gets better each time. I laugh thinking back to the first time I made it. There weren't any specific directions on the topping, so I poured the melted butter on top of the partially baked cake followed by a mixture of brown sugar/flour/cinnmon. Little did I know it was supposed to be a crumb topping. Oh I've come so far....

This cake may just be the perfect fall dessert. In fact, someone even said this cake "tastes like fall". It would be prefect for breakfast with a Chai Tea Latte or Caramel Macchiato. I've also served these as Apple Bars. We had it for dessert the other night after our Mac and Cheese. The cake is moist with a nice hint of cinnamon and cloves and a fabulous baked brown sugar crumb topping. The house smells amazing when you add the crumb mixture to the top. Oh and I should warn you, it's so easy to devour this. Take it into work, your coworkers and waistline will thank you.

Apple Cake


*I'm so bummed my pictures don't look very good, they do the cake no justice. The stupid sun didn't want to cooperate today. Oh how I miss summer.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup orange juice
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cup flour
1tsp each:
cinnamon
salt
baking powder
baking soda
1/2 tsp cloves
3 cups chopped apples (I used granny smith and fuji)

Topping:
3 TBSP melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
Dash Cinnamon


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

Beat oil, OJ, eggs, and sugar until well-blended. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in apples.

Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 30 minutes Prepare topping (mix topping ingredients until crumb mixture forms). Sprinkle topping on top of cake and bake an additional 20 - 30 minutes.