German Apple Cake

This morning, I woke up at 7:30. That's early for a Saturday, I know, but I was promised lots of relaxing fun time with Nick today so I didn't linger in bed. However, I didn't so much as get breakfast with him due to the large amount of work he has had recently, and had to work on this morning. So, I cleaned the house and finished the book I had been reading. Then, while standing in the kitchen wondering what I was going to do next, my new cookbook, Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson, stared at me from its shelf. I had made no plans to bake today, so I wasn't sure if I had enough ingreditents to make anything. I glanced through the cupboards and fridge and then read through the book for a recipe that fit those.

As it turned out, only one recipe fit what I had, so that is the one I made. It is Mimi's German Apple Cake (page 124) and it was yummy. The cake was crumbly like a coffee cake, it was sweet, light and fruity. However, I don't think it looked as nice as it could have, and certainly didn't come out looking like the picture. Since taste is more important than looks, I feel it still made for a nice treat, and a good spring one though it was listed under the Fall recipes in the book.

I used Pink Lady apples, rather than the Macintosh the recipe suggested. I figured they were similar enough to be ok.

The batter seemed a bit thick, as you can see from the big glob in the middle of the pan.

With the batter how it was, I was a bit worried it wouldn't flow under the apples.

The brown sugar didn'tlook as nice as I am sure the turbinado would've. But, I didn't know what turbinado sugar was, let alone have any in my pantry.

I was excited to use the vanilla I just made with a recipe Katie gave me: Soak about 5 vanilla pods in brandy or vodka (I used brandy, but think vodka might be a better choice as it just tastes like vanilla brandy to me, compared to the stuff she served me - made with vodka) in a sealed container for a couple of weeks. If there is not enough vanilla flavor, place more (new) pods in a soak for a couple more weeks. However, be sure to remove the pods after a few weeks though because they will start to break down.

By the time I was done baking, Nick was just about done working. So, we did get to have some fun time going out to lunch and the zoo. We made sure to eat a peice of cake before we left though, and ate one as soon as we got home too :)