Today we had a guest for dinner, my second cousin, whom I have never met! She recently joined the Navy and is stationed where we live. My Aunt Sue, her grandmother, asked if we could take her under our wing as this is her first time away from home. We were more than happy to do so! I wanted to make a nice meal for her, to make her feel welcome. For the entrée I made Spaghetti Bolognaise with homemade pasta and homemade focaccia bread. For dessert, I made this amazing apple cake!
For the apples I used what I had – honeycrisp and pink lady. The honeycrisp are a nice crisp sweet apple, while the pink lady apples have a bit more bitterness. They blending perfectly well and gave a great flavor to the cake.
The cake itself whips up very quickly. I was a little worried as the edges of the pans were getting browned very quickly. Thankfully, it evened out during the bake time.
I cooled the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing them from the pans. No problems there – they came out beautifully.
The frosting is an arm workout and a half! I doubled the recipe thinking it didn’t look like enough when I started. Little did I know, the longer the frosting cooks, the bigger it gets. It really does at least double in size! I had to switch to a larger pan halfway through.
The frosting has the same consistency of a German chocolate frosting. Almost like fudge, which in essence, is what the sugar and evaporated milk are making. It is nice an smooth while it is hot, but hardens as it cools.
I do love making a three layer cake, it just seems so decadent! This certainly did not disappoint. It was delicious and looked spectacular!
Apple Layer Cake
4 Cups Peeled and Finely Chopped Apples
2 Cups Sugar
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Soda
2 Eggs, Beaten
1 1/3 Cups Vegetable Oil
Coconut Pecan Frosting
Combine apples and sugar; toss lightly to mix. Let stand 30 minutes.
Add flour, salt and soda; beat 1 minute on medium speed of an electric mixer. Add eggs and oil; beat 3 minutes on medium speed. Divide batter evenly into three 9” round cake pans that have been greased. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Frost top and between layers with Coconut Pecan Frosting.
Coconut Pecan Frosting
1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
5.5 ounces Evaporated Milk
½ Cup Softened Butter
½ Cup Chopped Pecans
1 Cup Flaked Coconut
Combine sugar and evaporated milk in a large saucepan; cook over medium heat; stirring constantly; until soft ball stage is reached or until a candy thermometer registers 240 degrees. Remove from heat. Add butter, pecans, and coconut; stirring until butter melts. Frosting will harden as it cools, frost cake immediately.
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