Joyce’s Apple Snack Cake

Apple Betty. Apple pie. Apple crisp. Apple butter. Apple pancakes. Apple muffins. And now, Apple Cake. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I know I look kind of crabby in this picture, but trust me, I was in total ecstasy. I love this. Those huge, gorgeous red things in my bag are the biggest, sweetest Jonagold apples I’ve ever brought home. It only took four to make an Apple Betty.

I know it probably doesn’t sound very glamorous – I mean, you buy a plastic bag large enough to hold whatever quantity of apples you want to take home, you walk up and down rows of apple trees, you pick the apples you want from the trees and put them in the bag, and you go home with your apples. But there’s something about this back-to-basics thing, something about being out in an orchard, choosing the fruit that will become breakfast and lunch and dinner and dessert in my own kitchen and taking them right off the trees, that thrills me.

Plainly, Maggey was just as thrilled as I was.

In fact, Eli’s sister, her husband, and his three youngest nieces all came along, and for whatever innate reason that causes humans to gain satisfaction from gathering or making their own food, we all went home overflowing with it.

Last year, my first in Grand Rapids, we went to the most popular apple-picking place around, and we were sorry. The wait for doughnuts was an hour because the line was so long, which was ridiculous. It was simply too crowded, and that pretty much ruined it.

So this year, we went to Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm in Walker. It’s a family-owned farm that’s been around for, I think, about three generations. The “& Girls” part is real: there are a slew of Dunnebacks or part-Dunnebacks, all female, all blonde, all wearing bright green hoodies, running around calling each other “Mom,” and “Aunt so-and-so.” It’s delightful. They also have everything a good apple-picking establishment ought to have. Apples. Cider. Doughnuts. A wagon ride. And oh, yeah – a corn maze.

We found a Monarch butterfly in the corn maze. The nieces were afraid to touch it. Of course, the Bug Girl (me) had to coax it onto her hand.

I’m digressing, aren’t I? Okay, back to apples.

Of course, the first thing I made with my half bushel of apples was Apple Betty. It’s tradition. But then, on Sunday afternoon, when I was deliberating over what to do next with that half-bushel-minus-four-apples, I remembered Joyce’s Apple Cake.

Every Friday at work, we have Treat Day at 9:30 in the morning. We take turns bringing something. Last fall, my friend Greg brought his wife Joyce’s Apple Cake. It was yum. Sweet and moist and baked in a 9″x13″ pan like any good snack cake ought to be, it’s really just a lot of chopped apples held together by a bit of cinnamon-y dough. It’s totally fabulous.

I begged Greg for the recipe. A few days later, he brought me a photocopy of the original, which had been typed on a typewriter who-knows-how-long ago. I filed it away for the next apple season, and forgot about it. Then, last Sunday, I remembered it out of the blue (thank goodness), and went hunting for the photocopy. I located it, folded in fourths, in my recipe box.

I tweaked it quite a bit, because I wanted it to be healthier. I also added, in a moment of inspiration, a cup of Hershey’s cinnamon chips (I knew those would find a home when I impulsively picked them up at the market last week!). Anyway, it baked up moist and gooey and cinnamon-appley, and I inhaled two pieces without blinking (but that’s okay – I had vegetable soup for lunch).

It goes well in the morning with coffee, too.

Joyce’s Apple Snack Cake

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large, 4 medium, or 5 small apples, peeled and chopped (about 4 cups)
1 cup cinnamon chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″x13″ pan with spray oil.

Beat together the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the applesauce and oil. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Fold in the apples and cinnamon chips.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It should be moist, but not all-out wet.

Remove to a rack, cool, and cut into squares. Pace yourself!

Here’s the printable recipe.