Ugly Apple Cake with Butter Sauce

This is, hands down, my most requested dessert. I found this recipe in Taste of Home Contest Winning Recipes 2004 and I've been making it since early 2005 when I acquired the cookbook.  I call it Ugly Apple Cake, because everytime I take it out of the oven I say to myself  "That is one ugly cake."  Don't judge the cake by how it looks.  This is moist, rich with apples, nuts and spices and not too sweet.

I made this cake last Wednesday for my Couples' Bible Study Group.  The other night, after a wonderful pork roast dinner, I was wishing we still had Apple Cake in the house. What goes better with pork than apples? Somehow jello with dried fruit wasn't quite special enough.  So, plan on making the apple cake along with the pork roast.  You won't be disappointed.
 
 

The ingredients.  Really, that's it.  You probably have everything in your kitchen, except maybe Granny Smith apples.  Go buy apples.

 

Peel, core and cut your apples into 1/2" chunks.  I bought 5, used 3.  I always buy too many.  There's an apple crisp in our near future.

Walnut Apple Cake

2 eggs
2 cups sugar
½ cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg
4 cups peeled tart apples, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Butter Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
tiny pinch salt, optional*
3 tbls. flour
1 cup milk
2 tbls. Butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 13x9 metal pan with oil and flour spray or grease well with Crisco; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to egg mixture and mix well (batter will be stiff). Mix in apples and walnuts on very low speed.

Spread mixture evenly in the baking pan. Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on rack.

Make the sauce:
Combine sugar, salt and flour in saucepan; gradually stir in milk. Add butter; bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Allow to cool to warm before serving.  Refrigerate leftover sauce, rewarm briefly in microwave.

Cut cooled cake into squares, top with warm sauce.
12 – 15 servings

*there wasn't any salt in the original recipe for the sauce, it tastes a little flat without it.