Granny Smith Apple Cake

Takes 90 minutes / Serves 8-12

Ingredients

• 6 cups of peeled and cut coarse Granny Smith apples
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Peel and chop apples and set aside. Beat together sugar and oil, add eggs one at a time until creamy. Whisk together flour, cinnamon and soda. Slowly add dry mixture to sugar, oil and eggs. Fold in chopped apples and let sit for 30 minutes. Then stir and add walnuts. Mix well.

Pour batter into prepared bunt cake form coated with oil or butter spray and flour. Heat oven to 350F,  place on a sheet pan to bake.

Bake 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then invert on a cake cooling rack. Dust top with confectioner’s sugar if desired.

Nutrition information per serving: 412 calories; 147 calories from fat; 17 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 36 mg cholesterol; 222 mg sodium; 63 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 42 g sugar; 5 g protein. ENJOY!

EARLY APPLES IN AMERICA

In the 1600s, apples made their way to North America.  Crab-apples preceded European colonists to America, but the fruit wasn't very edible. The Massachusetts Bay Colony requested seeds and cuttings from England which were brought over on subsequent voyages to Boston. Other Europeans brought apple stock to Virginia and the Southwest, and a Massachusetts man, John Chapman, known as 'Johnny Appleseed' became famous for planting trees throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

As the United States and Canada were settled, nearly every farm grew some apples. Although some of these apples were very good for eating and cooking, most of the early varieties would be considered poor quality today. Often, they were used for cider or the ground-up apples were fed to livestock. 

                                                                                   (Oldest depiction of John Chapman)

Last updated July 26, 2019