Yee Family Fresh Apple Cake

this post for yee family fresh apple cake was originally published in oct 2015. here's a refresh on the pictures + some new musings!

are you ever stuck on auto-pilot, and once you stop and think about it for a second, you can't back in the groove? that's how i've been feeling about blogging recently. i didn't post last week (it was the first time i missed posting weekly in a few years). there was a part of me that was so reluctant to start this post. it's not the baking- it's the very manual way i do social media (bc i don't want to pay for schedulers and tools lol) and feeling burnt out about it given the 40ish hours a week i devote to digital marketing outside of this. i'd rather spend my limited time off hanging out or vegging out to things like this that give me nice feels. but again, baking and i are still bffs, so here's some apple cake.

this, the yee family fresh apple cake (we tend to just call it apple cake), is a family favorite. when my mom asks for dessert, she doesn’t want anything new, and it’s going to be between this cake, blondies, brownies or joanne chang’s chocolate chip cookies. she thinks it’s great for dessert, though i’ve been known to eat it for breakfast. you can pass it off as healthy and hearty enough for breakfast; it looks wholesome, even though it’s kind of not, but who cares when it tastes so delicious?

the yee family fresh apple cake has been to yosemite, where my extended family from my mom's side went for a huge family trip 10+ years ago. this was the trip where a certain relative hogged the bathrooms to use his army of rice cookers, a number of aunties and uncles climbed half dome and tried not to die, and when we had a brunch that was so expensive that my cousins went back to grab juice pouches and granola bars to try to make up for what they didn’t eat. that was probably this cake’s greatest adventure, but it’s been enjoyed at countless other potlucks and birthday parties.

the cinnamon and vanilla give the cake a really dark hue (2018 me is like LOL it's 1 teaspoon of each i don't really think the cinnamon and vanilla give the cake its color, but i'll let my 2015 self be ignorant) that’s broken up only by the crunchy nuts and the moist, cream-colored bits of apple. the nuts add a bit of a crunch, but they don’t detract from the apples. it’s well spiced, and i love how much apple is in here. don’t get me started on apple fritters that don’t actually have chunks of apple or that even taste remotely of the lovely fall (NOT spring or summer, unless you like mealy apples like my step grandma) fruit.

back to the cake. moist. appley. sweet, but not too much so. cinnamony. fantastic. go bake it.

1 year ago: marzipan apricot scones
2 years ago: black bean and corn quesadillas
5 years ago: bon appetit's cocoa brownies

5 from 3 votes

Print

Yee Family Fresh Apple Cake

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 15 mins

 

This apple cake is tender on the inside, with a really nice crunchy top and chunks of apple throughout.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple cake, apples, autumn, baking, cake, dessert, fall, sheet cake, snack, vegetarian, walnuts

Servings: 32 people

Calories: 133 kcal

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs room temperature
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups diced apples no need to peel
• 1 cup toasted walnuts chopped

Instructions

1. Beat the eggs until foamy. Add the oil and sugar; mix until well-combined. Add the dry ingredients; mix just until combined. Fold in the vanilla, apples and nuts until just combined. The batter will be pretty thick (to the point where it feels like dough rather than a cake batter).
2. Turn into a greased and floured 9x13" pan. Bake at 375F for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs and the top is crunchy.

Recipe Notes

From Aunty Lily.