Hearty Apple Bundt Cake

I started making this cake years ago for one of the doctors at the clinic where I work. He doesn't like the overly sweet chocolate/caramel/peanut butter/tons of frosting cakes that I usually make for birthday treats.

This cake is sweet but not as sweet as the others. 

I dust it with icing sugar instead of frosting it BUT you could leave it plain. A nice caramel or browned butter frosting drizzle would be good too.

This cake is dense, full of apples, dates, pecans, coconut, and maraschino cherries and looks pretty darned impressive on a serving platter. 

Hearty Apple Bundt Cake

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups oil

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups apples, diced

1 cup coconut flakes

1 cup pecans, toasted & chopped

1 small jar maraschino cherries, quartered (about 1/4 cup heaped of pieces)

1 cup dates, diced

icing sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray, set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until very well blended (scrape bowl with a spatula a few times). Beat in oil. Beat in the flour mixture.

Add in the apples, coconut, pecans, cherries, and dates.

Stir in until well mixed. Batter will be very thick!

Scrape into prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake in prepared pan until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean - approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Invert cake onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When cool, dust with icing sugar. 

For best results, cover and let sit a few hours (or overnight) before trying to slice. If you try to cut it while warm it is a bit crumbly.

Perfect for fall or when you have an abundance of apples, this cake is hearty and tasty and definitely a great alternative to the usual chocolate or vanilla cakes you may usually make. 

 

Be sure to visit: Or So She Says and Horrific Knits and The Chicken Chick and Jam Hands and The Velvet Moon Baker for some great links!