“Apple Breakfast Cake is one of my favorite recipes,” says Tina Stevens of Hatfield, Massachusetts, author of CRISPS COBBLERS CAKES: Sweet and Simple Recipes Celebrating Delicious Fruits and Berries from Farms of the Massachusetts Pioneer Valley.
“It is a simple, easy to make, and you’ll likely have most of the ingredients in your kitchen. The cake is moist with apples with a flavor that is more than the sum of its parts!”
The specific apple variety you use really makes a difference in the flavor of the cake, she says.
“I like to use a spicy apple that stands out and melds with the cinnamon in the batter, like CrimsonCrisp, Gala, or the heirloom Esopus Spitzenburg.”
It makes a large 9×13 sheet cake so there is plenty for sharing!
For added nutrition, you can leave the peels on.
Apple Breakfast Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan
Cake
2 c all-purpose flour
4 t cinnamon
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
4 eggs – room temperature
1-1/2 c sugar
2 t vanilla extract
1 c vegetable oil
6 apples – peeled, cored, cut into ¼-inch slices (set aside 1 prepared apple for topping)
1 c walnuts – toasted, chopped
Topping
1 prepared apple (from above)
4 t sugar
1 t cinnamon
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla for 3 minutes with an electric mixer on high. Add oil and mix at low just until blended in.
Add flour mixture to egg mixture and fold together with a spatula. Fold in 5 sliced apples and walnuts.
Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with spatula.
For topping, place remaining apple slices evenly across top of the batter.
In a small bowl, mix together 4 t sugar and 1 t cinnamon. Sprinkle over the apples.
Bake until the cake center feels set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Cool on rack.