Grandma Bailey's Baked Apple Cake

Hey Everyone, today I have a special treat for you. Being that it's Thanksgiving and all, I was thinking I would like to introduce to you one of the people I'm most thankful for in the world...I would like to introduce you all to my Mom! She and my Dad came up for the holiday and we went to town in the baking department. Two pumpkin pies, cherry pie, baked apple cake, and banana pudding...and that's just for dessert! We go all out every Thanksgiving and make a ton of pies and food and can never eat all of it. My momma taught me all about baking from scratch so I owe a lot to her for teaching me how simple it is to create something from some flour and sugar and a few other ingredients. She is most definitely an excellent baker and I'm proud to share her with the world...I just hope she doesn't mind...lol. This cake is always a staple for holidays and always will be.The recipe has been in our family for quite some time passed down from my great grandma (a West Virginia hillbilly:) ) Naturally I thought that since she was visiting for Thanksgiving, it'd be nice for HER to tell you all about it!  So, without further adieu...meet my Momma....

Hey, everyone!  Baking has always been a love of mine and I am glad to pass that down to my two daughters, Jessica and Samantha.  I remember watching my grandmother Julia Bailey baking when she'd come to visit us in Michigan where I grew up.  We lived on an acre of property surrounded by farmland, in the middle of fields with nothing much to do, so I would pre-occupy my time with reading and watching Julia Child's cooking show.  I saw my grandmother make her delicious apple cake one time and was fascinated with how she diced the apples right in the palm of her hand.  Ever since then I fell in love with baking things with my own two hands.  I loved putting things together from a little bit of flour, sugar, and butter and create something everyone loved to eat.   I remember my brother Bill would sneak a stack of peanut butter cookies that were cooling when I wasn't looking.....so he wouldn't get yelled at for taking them.  I really didn't mind, I just knew to make a double batch whenever he was around. :)  I started baking when I was about 13 years old.  I started out with peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, banana bread,  then went on to make my grandmother's apple cake, which I named Baked Apple Pudding Cake because it was like a baked pudding texture when still warm, but then cooled to a cake texture.  It is topped with brown sugar topping and is similar to warm bread pudding. 

  

Julia Bailey

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 sticks margarine

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

5 tart apples (diced small) Granny Smith

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 T. margarine (softened)

1 T. flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. First you add the dry ingredients together, the flour, the sugar, the baking soda, and the cinnamon.  Then you cut in the softened margarine, and add the egg. 

Then you peel your apples, one at a time and slice it all around while holding it in the palm of your hand.  Turn the apple sideways and slice it all around again.  Then take the paring knife and slice across the apple.  It will cut off little dices of apple that will fall right into your bowl.  Do this for 5 large tart apples--- I like McIntosh best, or Granny Smith apples.  

 Once you've diced all 5 apples, mix together.

Here's my granddaughter helping out. 

And here's the youngest wanting to be a big helper. 

  

 Pour into a cake pan that has been greased and floured.  Bake for one hour in a 350 degree oven.  

 

For the topping, mix together the margarine, brown sugar and flour with a fork. 

It should resemble coarse crumbs. 

 

 

Ten minutes before the cake is done add the topping. Bake for the final 10 minutes. 

 

Enjoy this cake warm or cooled.  I like it warm the best. Microwave ovens are our friends.  :) 

For a Printable Recipe CLICK HERE