Once again it's another fabulous day in Fall. For many, including myself, that means frolicking through someone's orchard picking apples and stuffing one's face full of cider and doughnuts. After a few weeks there comes a realization that I may have been a little over zealous during my apple picking. Then comes the panic of so many delicious freshly picked apples going to waste from not being sure of what to do with them. Of course there is the traditional apple pie, apple sauce and apple butter, but its easy to grow tired of the same recipes every year. I decided to go one step further and use a traditional apple recipe to make something new and fresh.
Last apple season I actually made my own apple butter from extra apples I had laying around. Apple butter stores very well and lasts a long time. I sterilized my jars using my dishwasher and stored my homemade apple butter in the refrigerator for safe keeping. I decided to make a cake out of my butter this year instead of smearing it on my usual whole wheat English muffin or oatmeal for breakfast. I had some leftover zucchini that my mom gifted me from her garden so I figured I'd incorporate that as well. Below is what I came up with and I was quite pleased with the results.
Recipe below
Music: All Roads- The Foreign Exchange
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tbsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. table salt
½ tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup apple butter
zest of one lemon (approximately 1tbsp.)
2 cups zucchini, finely shredded and drained well
Glaze
2-2 ½ cups of confectioner’s sugar
1 cup of apple juice
juice of one lemon (approximately 2 tbsp.)
Dried apples for decoration (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour your bundt pan.
In a medium sized mixing bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl or using a stand mixer beat oils and sugars together. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is fully combined. Add eggs one at a time to the mixture. Add apple butter to the mixture until fully incorporated. Add lemon zest. Slowly add the flour mixture one half at a time. Mix until fully combined but be careful not to over mix. Fold in zucchini until fully combined and evenly distributed.
Transfer batter to the cake pan and smooth batter until even in the pan. Hit cake pan onto the counter a few times to knock out air bubbles. Bake cake for approximately 50-55 minutes until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
While cake is baking make glaze. In a saucepan cook apple juice on medium-high heat until reduced down to approximately ¼ cup. (Juice will be thick like maple syrup). Allow juice to cool completely. In a medium sized bowl whisk together confectioner's sugar, apple juice, and juice of lemon until smooth.
Place cake onto cake rack and allow to cool completely. Invert cake onto cake plate or board. Pour glaze onto cake. Decorate with dried apples (optional).
Devour and enjoy!
