“My brother Jim and I always loved this apple cake as kids,” says Lee Clayton Roper. “Today, I love to serve it at the end of a casual dinner or as part of a picnic at a Denver Botanic Gardens concert. The recipe originally came from Mom’s cousin Mary Pryor in Kentucky.” From “A Well-Seasoned Kitchen,” serves 8 to 10. (Tested at high altitude. The original recipe does not call for salt, but we found 1/4 teaspoon balanced the sweetness.)
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups peeled and chopped tart apples
2 cups (minus 2 tablespoons) sugar
3 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon melted butter, divided
2 extra-large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon milk
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13 inch baking dish or a large tube pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped apples and 2 cups sugar. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg. In a small mixing bowl, toss together the walnuts and 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture. Set both aside.
To the apple mixture, add 1 cup of the melted butter and stir until combined. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the walnuts (and any flour mixture in the bowl). Spread evenly in the prepared dish and bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan to lukewarm.
While the cake is baking, make the glaze. Stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon of melted butter, the powdered sugar, light corn syrup and milk. Spread over the top of the lukewarm cake. Let cool until the glaze is set before serving.
Cake will keep for several days, covered and refrigerated.
