Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffeecake

It’s Secret Recipe Club time and this month I was assigned Stephanie’s blog, Sustainable Cooking for One.  Stephanie is a single gal who is pursuing a PhD in community nutrition and is passionate about eating local, gluten-free, low/no meat, in-season sustainable foods.  Also as the title of her blog suggests she focuses on cooking for one and even has a cookbook called One Bowl: Simple Healthy Recipes for One.

A number of Stephanie’s recipes appealed to me, her Red Lentil & Squash Soup as it’s been cold here, I had all the ingredients in my home and soup is always a wonderful meal, I thought that we’d all enjoy her Carrot Edamame Salad, and because I’ve been on a bit of a cauliflower kick lately, both her Creamy Cauliflower Carrot Custard and Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon & Mustard sounded like good options.  In the end though I decided that I wanted to make a cake for a friend and her family as her husband is going through chemotherapy and radiation and I thought that they would enjoy a sweet, homemade treat, so I chose Stephanie’s Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake.  Really, just like Stephanie, what appealed to me first about the cake was the name but when I read the recipe and saw the large amount of fresh apples and the flavor profile, it sounded like a delicious and perfect cake for my friend.

When Stephanie made her cake she adapted the recipe making it gluten-free but as my friends don’t have gluten issues, I made the cake with plain all-purpose flour.  Also, I didn’t have cider in my home but in my freezer I had frozen apple juice concentrate so I used that instead and because I felt that the concentrate was sweeter than the cider, I cut the sugar in the recipe a bit.  I also decided to add a little vanilla bean paste and salt to the batter just for some additional depth of flavor.  

Stephanie made two loaves from the recipe but I was really making this cake for my friend and trust me when I say, we don’t need lots of sweet treats in our home, but I did want to try the cake and of course get a picture, so I made one large loaf and a mini loaf for us to try and enjoy.  After eating our mini loaf I was sort of sad that I didn’t double the recipe as the cake was absolutely delicious and we would have loved more.  The strong cinnamon apple flavor and the slightly sweet cake with a nice crispy edge…well it was just perfect.  The cake was easy to make and we really loved it so I know that I’ll make it again and I know that my friend will love and appreciate the cake too.  Check out Stephanie’s blog for her gluten-free version.

Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake (adapted from here)

• 5 - 6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly (about 4 cups), I used a mix of Fuji & honey crisp 
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 TBS.
• 2 TBS. cinnamon
• 1 cup vegetable oil 
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup apple juice concentrate
• 1 TBS. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 TBS. baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt 

Heat the oven to 375 F. Grease a bundt pan or two loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine the apples with the cinnamon & 2 TBS. sugar and toss to coat, set aside. 

In a large bowl combine the vegetable oil, eggs, apple juice concentrate & vanilla.  Using a wooden spoon mix well.  Add the 1 1/2 cups of sugar, flour, baking powder & salt and combine well.  Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the bottom of the pan(s). Drain away any accumulated liquid from the apples and layer half the apples into the pan,  not allowing them to touch the sides. Spoon another 1/3 of the batter over the apples. Add the remaining apples, again not allowing them to touch the pan. Top with the remaining batter.

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Cover with foil if the top begins to overbrown.

Cool to warm or room temperature before slicing.

Enjoy!!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry