Apple Spice Cake

This cake is SO good....

Come on guys, you've heard this type of joke...Now you're supposed to ask: "How good is it?"

This cake is SO good. Let's say you were on day two of a (so far very successful) seven day cleansing diet...

You'd break it for this cake.

I applaud you, Zach and Brenda. You made it further than I ever will.

Apple Spice Cake
adapted slightly from marthastewart.com

Cake
3 cups flour
1 T cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 1/3 c vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3-4 (I used four) Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I had about 3 1/2 cups)
1 cup chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts (OPTIONAL...and if you're like me, you'll just leave them out.)
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Flour the pan. (Or use the nonstick cooking spray with flour). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, soda and salt. Set aside. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine oil, sugar and eggs. Mix on high speed until lemon yellow. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Add apples (and nuts, if you're into that) and mix to combine. Add vanilla. Mix until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60-90 minutes (mine took about an hour and ten minutes). Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and let cool completely (actually, it might be good warm). Serve with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Caramel Sauce
this is the simplest caramel sauce I've ever made
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until thickened to desired consistency.

We made this Friday night for my Mother-in-Law's birthday. There was some leftover (I don't know how). We wrapped the cake up airtight and left it on the counter and put the rest of the caramel in the fridge. Let me tell you, it was still just as moist and tasty when we ate it for our Sunday snack two days later!