Fall Apple Cake

Crunchy leaves and Fall's delicious chilly mornings got you in a baking fever? Me too! Here's a family favorite you might like to try. This cake is better if you plan ahead so that it can sit for a day or two before cutting. The sitting time allows the flavors to blend and deepen to produce quite a memorable flavor. If you don't have a particularly sweet tooth you might want to omit the finishing glaze (I gleefully drizzle it over the cake all the while wondering how long the cake will sit before I dive into it). Enjoy!

Fall Apple Cake

2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk (I use whole buttermilk)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup pecans, chopped
1-1/2 cups apples, peeled and finely cubed (I use 2 Granny Smith apples)

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- Cream sugar and oil.

- Slowly add eggs, blending after each addition.

- Combine flour and next 7 ingredients.

- Add flour mixture to egg and oil mixture. Add apples and pecans and stir well.

- Bake in greased and floured 10-inch tube pan for approximately 40 minutes (depending on your oven and your pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost - but not completely - clean. I like to take the cake out when just a tiny bit of cake sticks to the toothpick... keeps it from overbaking and becoming dry.

- While cake is still warm and in the pan, punch holes in the top of the cake (if you have them, use one of those little wooden grill skewers so the holes go all the way down to the bottom) and pour some of the warm glaze over it. Then turn cake out onto a plate and pour the rest of the glaze over the cake. Cover and let sit for a day or two - if you can!

Glaze:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 stick margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring sugar, milk and margarine to a medium to high boil - boil for three minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Let cool a little and spoon onto cake when the glaze is just nice and warm.