aunt ruth's apple cake

I've talked about my great aunt Ruth before... she's the one who came 3000 miles to visit with all her recipe cards... and any time I want a reliable, old-school, delicious recipe, I know one of hers will fit the bill. We just made plans to go to the east coast this summer, where I'm hoping to visit with Aunt Ruth's daughter and granddaughter, so I guess that has me thinking about family.

This time, I made Aunt Ruth's apple cake. It's the perfect thing to use up a few apples (it takes six), and it makes a delicious dessert or teatime snack or even breakfast, if you're stretching your idea of what "fruit for breakfast" means. You can see all the thinly sliced apples on top, and there are layers of cinnamon-apple-y goodness running through the cake as well. It's moist, it's sturdy, it's sweet but not cloying, and it holds up nicely for a couple of days under a cake dome.




Aunt Ruth's Apple Cake
Makes one 9" round tube pan cake.

Toss together:
6 apples, peeled and sliced thinly (I like to use really crisp apples that hold up well to baking - maybe Honeycrisp or Granny Smith or a combination, but you can use whatever you prefer)
5 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons sugar

In a large bowl, measure the following and the beat together until smooth:
3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) flour
2 cups (14 ounces) sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
1/4 cup orange juice
4 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a tube pan. Pour half of the batter into the pan and spread it evenly. Spread half the apple slices over the batter. Add the remaining batter and top with the remaining apple slices. Bake for 90 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed with a finger. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

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