We have been enjoying this simple, old-fashioned apple cake from Susan Herrmann Loomis’ 1991 Farmhouse Cookbook for several days. Long before she began making everyone jealous with her tales of Rue Tatin in a small Norman town and rural French cooking, Loomis traveled across the U.S., interviewing farm wives and collecting their homey recipes. This “King-Size Apple Cake,” from one Alice Berner of Big Sandy, Montana, is a winner.
It may be the seasonally-appropriate mix of cinnamon and allspice bumped up with some nice quality cocoa, but it’s most likely the cake’s large amount of butter that makes it so delicious. The batter contains an entire cup of butter, which helps give the cake an excellent flavor and crumb. The butter gets an assist from grated apple (it’s a good way to use up a lot of late-in-the-season and not-so-great-looking fruit), currants and a goodly amount of chopped walnuts. And there’s a light slathering of caramel icing (yeah, with more butter).
Grating the apples takes a bit of effort, but overall the cake is not very difficult, as long as one has a 10-inch Bundt pan and a working oven. Toasting the walnuts and putting in a dash of vanilla adds even more depth to the cake’s flavor. Loomis claims the cake “will keep at least a week if it is tightly covered.” But we’re pretty sure that, due to constant snacking (mostly the fault of Steve), ours won’t last nearly that long.
(adapted from Susan Herrmann Loomis’ Farmhouse Cookbook) Cake: Preheat oven to 350° F, with a rack in the center. Generously butter a 10″ Bundt pan. Sprinkle flour in the pan and shake to distribute evenly. Sift flour, cocoa, salt, cinnamon and allspice into a small bowl. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, stopping occasionally to wipe down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Mix baking soda and hot water and stir until soda is dissolved. Add 1/3 of the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture, then 1/2 of the baking soda/water mixture, then 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then remaining baking soda/water mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Stop occasionally to wipe down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Stir in vanilla, apple, currants and walnuts. Spoon the batter, which is quite thick, into the prepared pan and level off. Bake for about 1 hour (and maybe 5 minutes more), until cake is dark brown and top springs back when touched. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then release from pan and allow to continue cooling on rack. Caramel Icing: Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. When butter is melted, stir in brown sugar and salt. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, just until sugar melts. Stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to slightly above room temperature. Add confectioners’ sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, whisking until the icing is smooth and spreadable. Whisk in vanilla extract. Glaze cooled cake with icing. It will be a rather thin covering.APPLE BUNDT CAKE WITH CARAMEL ICING
Gourmandistan 
love apple pie very much
Can’t go wrong with good apples, can you?
This cake looks so good, Michelle and I’ve got a new, untested bundt pan looking for its raison d’être. (The last one ended up in the trash with an unbelievably recalcitrant cake. That will fix ’em both!) I can’t think of a better way to break it in than with a cake that calls for a cup of butter.
It’s the kind of cake that would have totally grossed me out if somebody’s grandmother had made it when I was young. And now I think it’s good. Hmmm…
Wow this tasty really sumptuous. I love this
Thank you!
This is one of my favorite cakes. Very easy and absolutely delicious! It is so good that it never lasts more than a few days in our home and there are only two of us.
I was surprised at how much I liked it. Definitely old school!
Delicious cake…this time of year is right for a cake like this. Funnily enough I’ve been in touch with Susan Loomis and we might put something together with her cooking classes and my photography…the contact came after my son had been shooting at Rue Tatin for “Jamie Magazine”.
Now, that’s fun! I adore her books. That French Farmhouse Cookbook is almost as dogeared and splattered as my Wells Bistro Cooking.
You do make some fantastic proper cakes 🙂
Thanks, MD. This has been the year of the cake, hasn’t it? I need to make a resolution to move on to other types of desserts.
You’ve been on a roll, but that can be good because one builds up a whole food section on a topic 🙂
You notice I am not resolving to stop baking. 😉
Ha ha – I don’t do resolutions 🙂
Wow, WP “Discover” sent me a link to your site, expect heavy traffic! As always a yummy recipe, bookmarked for the winter.
Wow, I’m so behind in everything in life that I hadn’t even discovered the new “Discover” thing!
Now THAT’s a cake! It sounds so American!
It does, doesn’t it? Like somebody’s grandma would make.
Lovely looking cake Michelle. I think the idea of travelling the US asking for apple cake recipes to be a worthy one. Perhaps I should try it?
Only if you stop here on your journey. 🙂
Delicious!!
🙂
Looks great
Thanks much.
I’d never have thought of mixing cocoa with apples etc but now you’ve put this out there it seems like a brilliant idea. And caramel icing, yum. Thanks, Michelle, definitely one to try.
Me either. It didn’t really read as chocolate at all, but I think it did give it depth as well as a nice color.
Looks decadently delicious and so moist! Enjoy 🙂
Thanks, Alice! Steve said the other night: “You know, there are some slices of that you put in the freezer for your parents. We could eat them and then you could just make another cake.” 😉
This looks so nice!
Thank you!
This sounds amazing! I just bought 4 pounds of butter on sale so I’m ready the holiday baking. This may be my weekend project!
All hail Butter!
Looks delicious, will be making this soon. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
This is the perfect cake this Christmas, definitely way much better than having fruit cake 🙂
I’m with you, Raymund. No fruitcake. 🙂