Long Live the Apple

Erma, I am surprised at you. You sent me an old family recipe that doesn’t have bourbon in it? Now, I never met your Grandmother, but from all you have told me, when she would have been frying up Fried Green Apples, she would have pulled out her “Cooking Bourbon” and poured a little on those apples. Did her pantry have a whole shelf devoted to “spirits?” And if so, how did she keep the young boys out of it?

We have lost most of this year’s apple crop as well, but fortunately I had made so much apple butter and apple sauce last year that it won’t matter, and we can buy fresh apples. Think of what a disappointment it would have been in the past to families who depended on apples to break up the monotony of beans and squash. Not to mention that apples were one of the few fresh fruits that could be stored for most of the winter. Loss of the crop would have been a major blow to the family’s diet and survival.

One of my favorite ways to use up excess (boy, would a pioneer woman have bristled at the idea of “excess”) apples is in Fresh Apple Cake. Apple Cakes have been around for at least a hundred years, so when the zucchini squash became wildly popular in the early 1970’s, some bright woman (no doubt, in despair at the mound of green squash on her counter) decided in desperation to substitute zucchini for apples, and viola, Zucchini Bread was invented!

Fresh Apple Cake:

1 ¾ cups chopped, peeled apples
1 cup sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 egg
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup nuts
½ cup Drunken Raisins
1-2 tablespoons Powdered Sugar

Mix apples and sugar in a bowl. Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes. Add butter, egg, flour, soda, salt and spices and mix well with a wooden spoon. Stir in the nuts and raisins.

Spread batter into a greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until cake tests done.

Makes 12 servings. Best served warm. Better yet, eat it right out of the pan when it comes out of the oven.

You will note that I have substituted your Drunken Raisins for the plain Jane variety right out of the box. I can’t believe how much flavor the bourboned raisins add to anything that is baked.