Have you ever seen a recipe on a blog (or anywhere else) where the minute you saw it you had to stop what you were doing and head to the kitchen? I often SAY I’m going to do that but then something shiny appears and my mind wanders to whatever needs my attention.
Not so on Saturday. I saw a post on Facebook by Mary from All Things Food – Cooking with Mary and Friends of her apple crisp cake. The thought of a yellow cake bottom, a layer of soft apples flavored with cinnamon and topped with a traditional apple crisp topping had me printing her recipe and heading to the kitchen.
It’s a very versatile and forgiving recipe because I only had 5 eggs. Someone had eggs and tomatoes for breakfast. Then I could only find 5 apples in the crisper. That same someone loves apples too. Finally, I wanted to make two cakes, one for us and one for the nursing home. I forged ahead and you know what? They both were perfect. It was missing one egg yolk and a few slices of apple but nobody could tell. I’m eager to give this a try with another fruit crisp. Maybe raspberry!
Have you met Mary Marshall before? I don’t think we were ever properly introduced but she lives in the South so we have that in common because I lived in Tennessee for many years. According to her Facebook page, she moves around a lot but she did live in Kennebunk, Maine and then she went to St. Francis College, in Biddeford, Maine. Once anyone has lived in Maine, we’re all family, I suspect.
That has nothing to do with who she is, I was just trying to make myself important because I’d lived in the same sorts of places she has.
Mary is the sort of cook we all want to be like. She cooks healthy food straight from the garden or pasture, shies away from anything that has been near antibiotics or growth hormones and she cans everything she can get her hands on. Then as if that’s not enough, she has grandchildren she adores and recently took them to the Haunted Happenings event. She’s the sort of person you’d love to have living next door to you. (not that my neighbors aren’t wonderful)
After I made the cake I posted it on Facebook and asked Mary if she minded if I reposted this on my blog if I linked to hers. Always gracious, she said I could. So please, visit Mary’s Cooking With Mary and Friends and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. It’s the least we can do to say thank you for this wonderful cake idea.
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup old-fashioned oats
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks (farm fresh is best)
- 1 tablespoon. pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon. baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups plain/all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 6 apples, peeled, sliced, cored and cut into chunks
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Spray a 9-x-13 inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Cut butter into pieces and place in a medium bowl. Add brown sugar, flour, oats, salt and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter (or your hands), mix together until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, and mix until fully combined after each addition.
- Add vanilla, mix in baking powder, salt and half of the flour and mix until blended well.
- Add half of the milk and mix.
- Add the remaining 1½ cups of flour and mix until combined.
- Pour in the remaining ¾ cup milk and mix until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan.
- Place cut apple chunks into a medium bowl and add brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Toss to coat apples evenly. Pour lemon juice on top and stir thoroughly.
- Arrange apples onto the cake batter in the pan in an even layer. Sprinkle crisp topping over the apples and place in the oven.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and cake appears to be set.
- Remove from the oven and let cake cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into slices and dust with confectioner's sugar, if desired.
It looks and sounds delicious and I like that it actually contains a good amount of apples. Yum!
I’ve heard people say that about Maine before 🙂 I LOVE the idea of combining apple crisp and cake!!
Oh Maureen, this sounds so good! I’m going to make this as one of the desserts for Thanksgiving dinner!
Wow thank you so much Maureen! Yes, I too feel like we’ve always known each other and I am thrilled you make the cake! Thank you ever so much.
Oh what a glorious cake! I love it. I’m working on an upside-down apple cake myself that will show up soon. But this? I will have to try too!
I love apple cake, rolls, muffins, anything and this recipe looks like a real winner. Looks delicious!
I can see why you had to give this recipe a try right away. It looks delicious and good to know you can fudge a bit on the eggs and apples if you have to.
Great looking cake with lots of apples. I’d love a piece with my coffee right now. 🙂
Cake & apples….anything with cake & apples is a winner for me!
Thanks for sharing to both of you fine baking ladies :))
Looking forward to the making, the smells, the tasting….xx
Hello Mary! What a lovely cake this is… apple cakes are among my favourites xx
Not only do I want to make this apple cake – I want to meet Mary too! What a lovely post – the cake, the humor, all of it wonderful!
How clever to have a crumble on top of cake batter – you get the best of both worlds then. I love your idea of using raspberries too with a good dollop of thick cream on it….yummmmm 🙂
This cake would also have me run into the kitchen and start baking it. It looks great. I am going to visit Mary’s site right away.
Mary is new to me — thanks for the introduction! Know I like her already — what a cake! This is excellent. Thanks.
Oh, what a wonderful cake – Maureen – perfect for this part of the world where we have apples in abundance. Am going to tuck this away for when I am in my new kitchen and can do baking:-) very soon – yeah!
Love how there are oats involved in the top!! Great recipe!
Yum Maureen! I have got six apples that I need to use so this apple cake is on my To Do list for tomorrow!
That cake looks like an absolute winner Maureen and Mary! Nice to get to know Mary too! 😀
Oh my!!! This looks like my dad’s apple cake. Can’t wait to try it!!!
I can see why you were so take by this Maureen! It does indeed look like a thoroughly satisfying cake!
What a great cake, combining 2 great desserts into one!
I love this post! I make a similar apple cake with olive oil instead of butter, but it doesn’t have the crisp topping. I’d love to try that. I must check out Mary’s other recipes. Oh, and I’ve always wanted to visit Maine!
Hi Maureen!
I’m a big fan of Mary’s and this cake is to die for. I’m not even much of a dessert person but if there’s apples, I’m in. This is just beautiful!
Btw, I am loving your logo. Distinctive and memorable 🙂
Thanks, Robyn! You aren’t old enough to remember Bella Abzug who was in the US House of Reps but in the middle ages when I was in college, she, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem started the woman’s movement for equality. “Battling Bella” said a woman’s place is in the house – of representatives. Anyway, Bella always wore a big hat and when I saw that cloche I instantly thought of her and plopped a big flower on it like she did. Thanks to her and those with her, women have come a long way. She was also the first person in Congress to support gay rights and that was back in 1974. Folks often remarked about her big hats and she always replied, ‘It’s what’s under the hat that counts.’ Same with me but I use a cloche. 🙂
I want a giant piece of this delicious cake … I am on love with the recipe.
Awesome and forgiving cakes are the best. And yes I have ‘juts-had-to-make-a-recipe-right-away moments. ill have to check Mary out!
I love cakes like this and have bookmarked this for when my apple tree starts fruiting 🙂 Jan x
Oh that does sound so good; I’m a big fan of apple crisp. You know though…I might have to add a touch of bourbon right?
Sending recipe to my daughter so she can make this cake for me for Thanksgiving, Thanks Maureen and Mary.
It’s a great looking cake and you did really well given you were down an egg yolk and a couple of slices of apples! I’m not from the South but I have had a fairly similar cake – it’s one my mother used to make regularly and I loved it. It was wonderful eaten warm straight from the oven. I’m going to try to track down the recipe and see how it compares xx
Oh, my gosh, this looks AMAZING! I am printing it off now even though one of my blog commenters told me I must love apples b/c of all the apple desserts this fall. One more won’t hurt!
I love this mix of crisp and cake, what a dreamy dessert!
I can certainly see why you would want to make this cake, it looks and sounds great. I’m seeing all these great apple recipes now that we have sold our orchard…such is life. I’ll just have to buy my apples now. 🙂
OMG!
I have to make this cake. It’s my sons 20th birthday so I think I will make this for his special dinner 🙂 We are not really into iced cakes so this will be perfect.
Oh and LOL, I loved the comment about getting distracted by the next shiny yummy recipe, that is SO ME!
Thanks so much for sharing, I can’t wait to make this one 🙂
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Apple Crisp is one of my favorite desserts! This recipe sounds delicious! =)
Wow – great looking cake, and so rich!
I am not a fan of food tv, but have enjoyed occasionally watching the Great British Bake-Off. Twice now episodes on that show have sent me scurrying into the kitchen to replicate something too, too delicious and fattening!
I am officially in PLEASURETOWN. This is gorgeous.
LOL at pleasuretown 🙂
Love this post about Mary. And this cake? Love that, too! I need a good apple recipe besides pie, and this just may be it! So glad she let you post this!
What a gorgeous cake, love the crisp factor, and how buttery and dense it looks!
I can understand you Maureen because now I want to make this recipe as well! I can imagine the apples fondants and the crispy oats. Mmm just délicieux!
This looks like such a treat – the flavours and the different textures! I can only imagine it would be a hit with young and old 🙂
Hi Maureen! I often see your comments on Nagi’s blog and have meaning to come over here for some time! I so much appreciated your kind comment when Nagi posted the recipe for no bake Reese’s that I had given her. I’m the one who lives in Lafollette, TN (though we are transplants from MI) and we have been in Kennebunk, ME! His father was a logger and blacksmith who lived in Bingham in his later years. My husband has three aunts who still live in ME. I don’t know if you read Stephen King novels, but in his book “11/22/63” he mentions my husband’s uncle, Albert Dunton. I’m rambling, sorry. I’m glad I finally stopped by for a visit – I’ll be back after seeing your wonderful recipes!
Wow! I have a friend who always called it La Follette with a fancy flourish and the rest of us just called it Lafollete like you do. I lived in West Knoxville and managed the Knoxville Glove Company for years while my kids were growing up. Stephen King scares me but I’ve driven past his house a few times. 🙂 Lovely to meet you! My grandparents lived along the Kennebec in Winslow and worked the logs in the summer and cut ice in the winter.
Where do I start? Okay, first of all, Maureen, I always enjoy reading your blog because you’re such a good writer =) Second, thank you for the intro to Mary. I will indeed follow her. Always nice to meet someone who bakes up cakes with fresh picked apples. Third, your renditions of the cake looks and sounds stellar! P.s. A splash or two of Tennessee bourbon with the apples wouldn’t hurt either, right?
Two of my favorite desserts in one? Yes, Please. 🙂 Thank you, Maureen and thank you for introducing me to Mary!
This looks amazing! It combines two of my favorite desserts in one!
Maureen and Mary, this is just the sort of dessert I like best — a fruit dessert. Wish one of you could deliver a slice or two to me right away!
Lovely homely comforting recipe, Maureen – I bet you were one popular lady when you turned up to the nursing home with this.
Thanks for the introduction to Mary. Just off for a virtual visit to her now.
If I didn’t have a potluck to go to this morning and hadn’t signed up for a vegetable (I know, how predictable), I would make this right now. It’s perfect! And I’m off to check out Mary’s blog and life. I love your comment if you’ve lived in Maine, we’re all family, I suspect.
Wow, does that look amazing. My two favorites pulled together, cake and a crisp. I would eat the whole thing myself, day by day, slice by slice!
What a sensational looking cake, but any dessert with the word crisp in it gets my attention!
Mary’s recipe rocks! ( Thanks for introducing her to us)
Wish my version looks as rockin’ as your’s Maureen! Fabulous job. Looks like a gold mine. Precious!
It’s fall here, so the apple crop is new and vibrantly delicious. This recipe sounds like the perfect way to put those apples to good use. I love the idea of a soft cake with a crunchy topping — Delish!
I have to admit that I’m not the biggest pie fan – mainly because I’d prefer the pie filling over the pie crust, so I often pass on slices of pie. However, cake is another story. I’d rather this apple crisp cake than any apple pie!
I love apple cake! This looks amazing!
This looks so delicious
http://www.unnatisilks.com/
Now that is one beautiful apple cake and thanks for introducing us to Mary…and her delicious recipe. How sweet of you to bring a cake to the retirement home too. I bet they lapped that up in no time flat.
Hi Maureen! This looks wonderful! I’m originally fro MI and apples were the main focus of fall, well maple syrup too! This has all the elements – cakey bottom, apple pie middle and apple crisp top! I’m drooling! 🙂
I laughed that you were easily distracted by shiny things and never got to all the amazing cakes and recipes you say you will bake and prepare. I have this whiteboard on my fridge that lists about 50 things I plan to make, the whiteboard has now become that shiny object, a work of art even. LOL! I love this cake, the markets have the most gorgeous pink lady apples that would be wonderful in this delicious crisp. Ill add to the list and hopefully Ill get to making it. 🙂
Oh Maureen, you never fail to surprise me! Such a delicious apple cake 🙂 Love the crunchy toppings!
This looks so amazing! I love the apples inside!
This is truly superb – thank you to you and Mary! As I was reading the recipe The Husband walked past and said yum – please make that. My two boys LOVE Apple Crumble so this gorgeous cake will be a brilliant change – with custard or yoghurt perfect for dessert. Or with cream for afternoon tea. xxx
Stopping by to say I adore everything about this post! From the fabulous recipe to the wonderful story, a most lovely post!
Lovely to meet you, Deb and thanks so much for the lovely comment.
Thank you so much for introducing us to Mary! I was not familiar with her, but I’m headed to check her out. That apple crispy looks amazing! I can see why you had to make it immediately. I may have to do the same thing this week. I have tons of great apples and I can’t think of anything better to use some of them for.
oh my goodness, let me grab a glass of milk, I’ll be right over. Hugs
DELICIOUS CAKE with a capital YUM! It was the longest 2 hour making ever but so worth it, it was soft and moist, but I think I may have undercooked it a little but I absolutely loved it! that cake was so good and with nothing but vanilla in the mix I thought it’d be bland but it was so tasty, the apples tasted better than any apples I’ve ever baked in cake or in a muffin, and I’m always trying to use oats in anything. I need more butter sticks because I have to make this cake again. Wonderful recipe thank you.
I made this cake. I baked it in a 9×13 pan per the instructions. It overflowed the pan so much, it reminded me of the elementary science experiment of the volcano with the following lava. I haven’t made a mess in the oven like this since that Thanksgiving when the sweet potato casserole marshmallows caught on fire and oozed all over. The smell reminded me of camping when I was a kid.
Anyway… Should this cake be baked in a different size pan or 2? I’m game to try again, if it tastes as amazing as I think it will.
Oh no, I haven’t had this problem. I’ll bake it again and see if I can replicate your results. I’m really sorry.