EILEEN MINTZ’S FAVORITE APPLE CAKE

Dessert, Food From Friends

Yield: 12 to 15 servings

Filling:
4 medium size Golden Delicious apples (1 1/2 pounds) peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cake:
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice (preferably fresh)
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Additional ground cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp)
Confectioners' sugar for dusting on top of cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup Bundt pan.

2. Filling: Mix the sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cake: Combine the remaining 2 1/2 cups of sugar with the eggs, oil, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Blend on medium speed until light. After measuring the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt), sift them and add to the mixing bowl. Shake in a little more cinnamon. Beat until blended.

4. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of batter into the Bundt pan. Top with half of the apple mixture. Cover the apples with another 1 1/2 cups of batter. Top with remaining apples and then top with remaining batter. Mix some of the juices from the bottom of the bowl from the apples into the batter on top of the cake and blend them in.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven until the top is golden brown and a cake tester shows that the moist crumbs are attached, about 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes.)

6. Cool cake (still in the pan) on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Run a knife around the sides and center tube of the pan to loosen the cake. Turn cake onto the rack and cool it for at least an hour. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.