Easy Apple Cake

Last week my husband and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. Celebrating 15 wonderful years of marriage calls for an equally wonderful cake to commemorate the occasion: Apple Cake. Now granted this is not much a visual show-stopper when it comes to cakes. But, this cake is easy and totally hit the spot with the cooling weather and changing of leaves.

For those of you familiar with box apple cake mixes,  I've tried to recreate the simplicity of those boxes with this recipe. As convenient as box mixes are, this one contains all real ingredients and no chemicals or preservatives. Whisk together a few dry ingredients, add in some eggs and chopped apple (you don't even have to peel them!) and BAM, you're done. No oil to pour, no butter to whip... easy and delicious.

Now this cake is amazing on it's own, but if you really want to make it over-the-top-good, smother it in some Salted Browned Butter Cinnamon Glaze. For those of you that don't have much of a sweet tooth, skip this step! The cake is totally delicious on its own or dusted lightly with powdered sugar.

Easy Apple Cake
((Printable Recipe))

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large granny smith apples, chopped (peel the skins or leave them on)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Salted Browned Butter Cinnamon Glaze:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg with a whisk. (This is your "box" mix. Yes, this is what you're paying the big bucks for.)

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the two eggs.  Add this to the dry ingredients along with the chopped apples, vanilla and walnuts.

4. Now stir, stir, stir. Keep stirring until all the flour/sugar mixture begins to look wet and well combined.  Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.

5. For the glaze, melt the butter in a small sauce pan (do not use nonstick, you need to be able to see the butter change color.)  Cook the butter for about a minute until brown particles form on the bottom of the pan. This can burn quickly, so once you see the brown specks form, remove it from the heat and pour it into your mixing bowl.  Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon, then beat in about 2 tablespoons of milk.  Add more milk until you have reached your desired consistency.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck

(Recipe originally featured over at Recipe Lion.)