Feature Recipe For The Week 9/10/16
One of the first true signs of the autumn season approaching is the appearance of apple cider at the local markets. This pound cake uses this ever-popular cider for a delicious and 'fall-tasting' treat. It is a very moist cake, made with plenty of spices that go so well with apples (True Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice and Clove Powder), and the streusel uses the Apple Pie Spice that is just perfect for the topping. Enjoy the wonderful autumn flavors in this yummy cake - it's so good you will want to make it again and again during this delightful season.
Ingredients (for the cake):
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups butter (room temperature)
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp True Cinnamon
1 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Clove Powder
1 cup apple cider
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions (for the cake):
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a large loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans by spraying them well with cooking spray. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs - one at a time, beating after each egg.
In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and spices. Add this dry ingredient mixture to the butter/egg mixture and alternating with the apple cider. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Make the topping and sprinkle the topping over the cake batter in the pan(s). Bake the cake until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean (about 1.5 hours for a large loaf pan and 50 minutes for the mini loaf pans). Let cake(s) cool on a rack before slicing.
Ingredients and Directions (for the topping)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tblspns brown sugar
1 tsp Apple Pie Spice
1/8 tsp salt
Mix together all of the above ingredients until pieces to crumble are formed. Sprinkle the crumbles on top of the cake batter in the pans just before placing the pans into the oven.
