A sweet treat with walnuts, cinnamon and caramel frosting.
Gladys was a fixture in the Myra’s Dionysus kitchen. I remember her specialties being cheesecake, spanakopita, and apple cake, although she made everything. She had a wicked sense of humor, but she was quiet, so you had to pay attention. One of my favorite memories of Gladys is when she was the fairy godmother in a Women’s Theatre production. She had many talents. And, she was family.
Gladys and Myra met in the hospital in Detroit. They were recovering in the same hospital room and spent the days talking. When my mom had to stay longer, Gladys would come and visit her every day. After Myra recovered from having cancer and several surgeries, she decided to live in Cincinnati instead of Detroit. She invited Gladys to come and live in Cincinnati and work in the restaurant. Gladys’ husband had passed, her children were grown, and she decided to go for it.
This cake is sweet, so use a tart apple. I used Honey Crisp. It doesn’t require a mixer. You can make it in one big bowl and mix it up with a whisk. You do need a thermometer to make the caramel frosting. If you don’t want to go to all the trouble of making caramel, cream cheese frosting is very good on it, too.
This cake can be made in a 9 X 13 pan for a flat cake, instead of 2 rounds.
Gladys’ Apple Cake
Equipment
- 2 9 inch round cake pans
- 1 food processor to chop the apples, or chop by hand
- 1 large bowl and whisk
- measuring cup and spoons
- parchment or waxed paper
Ingredients
Apple Cake
- 4 cups chopped, unpeeled apples
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (such as canola oil)
- 1 TBLS. vanilla extract
- 2 teas. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 TBLS. cinnamon
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Caramel Frosting
- 2 cups Brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup butter (4 oz.)
- Walnuts to mark the top of the cake
Instructions
Apple Cake
- Quarter, deseed the unpeeled apples and chop 1 apple at a time, using the steel blade in the processor, until you have 4 cups. Apples should be chopped fairly fine.
- Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the apples and the sugar and let them sit while you prepare the pans. Cut liners for the cake pans and spray or grease with butter. Grease, add the liner, grease again and flour the pan.
- Add the oil, eggs and vanilla to the apples and whisk to mix well. Add the soda, salt, cinnamon and flour and continue stirring with a spatula. Add the walnuts and mix till everything is blended.
- Divide evenly between two 9 inch cake pans and smooth out evenly to the edges.Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. It is done when a toothpick comes out clean, and the cake is pulling away from the edge of the pan. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out of the pans. Cool the cake before making the frosting.
Caramel Frosting
- Put all ingredients into a saucepan and stir over low heat until dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Using a thermometer, bring to 220 degrees. It should take around a minute. Remove from the heat and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Using your whisk, beat until it is just cool enough to run down the side of the cake. It should start to feel a little stiff.Pour over the first layer of cold cake and let it start to drip over the side. Put it in the refrigerator for a minute. Bring it back out onto the counter and put the 2nd cake layer on top. Continue to very gently pour the rest of the caramel over the cake and let it drip down. Add whole walnuts on top for decoration.
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