Cheater’s Apple Cake

Yes, I admit it. I take shortcuts. I do. I melt chocolate in the microwave, I've used store-bought pre-chopped mirepoix (carrots, onions and celery) and (gasp!) I occasionally use boxed cake mix in lieu of scratch cakes.

Before we left for New York, I had a ton of apples to use up. (I was afraid to come home to this if I didn’t). I’d recently seen a whole crop of apple cake recipes (tee hee – crop, apples) pop up on the blogosphere in recent weeks and knew that this was the final destination for mine.

Culling thru all the different recipes, nothing jumped out at me saying:

I AM EASY. MAKE ME AND USE UP ALL YOUR APPLES TONIGHT, DO NOT WASTE FOOD, AND BY THE WAY YOU STILL HAVE A LOT OF LAUNDRY AND PACKING TO DO AND WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE ALL YOUR TRAVEL SIZE LOTIONS AND POTIONS SO THAT AIRPORT SECURITY DOESN’T LOSE THEIR MINDS AND HAVE TO DO A FULL PAT DOWN ON YOU, EVEN THOUGH YOUR UNDERWIRE THAT LIFTS AND SEPARATES WILL STILL MAKE YOU RING LIKE A 5 ALARM FIRE, SLOW DOWN THE LINE AND THEN YOU’LL GET HATEFUL LOOKS FROM THE GRAND POOBAH LA DE DAH MEDALLION MEMBERS WHO HAVE NOW MISSED THEIR FLIGHT SITTING IN FIRST CLASS WITH FREE PEANUTS AND HEADPHONES BECAUSE OF YOU AND THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT APPLE CAKE AND IF YOU MAKE IT CAN YOU SEND IT INTO WORK WITH DH SO THAT IT DOESN’T GO BAD AND THAT THEY WILL THEY EAT IT AND LIKE IT AND NOT MOCK YOU IN FRONT OF THEIR INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS.

Nope, hard to believe but I didn’t see anything like that.

So, what I did was… I cheated. and kept my fingers crossed. I used a yellow cake mix and then added yummy things to it.

Put me on double secret probation if you need to, but I refuse a foodie pat down. It goes without saying that the underwire is non-negotiable - I’ll nip you with my baby nail clippers if you try anything funny.

Cheater’s Apple Cake

Tube cake pan or bundt pan
Baker’s Joy spray (yes, another vice) or Pam cooking spray

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
Eggs, oil and water per box directions
6 apples, peeled, seeded/cored and chopped
Zest and juice of one orange (yes, it was languishing on the counter)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Pinch cardamom (optional)
1/4" cup brown sugar, packed

Pre heat oven as described on cake mix.

In a large bowl, combine the apples with the orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon, sugar and cardamom (if using). Leave it to macerate (ohh, big word) while you start on the cake.

Open the box of cake mix. Clip off any Box Tops for Education and throw in your junk drawer so that when your kid comes home telling you about the school contest du jour, that you can toss a couple his way and not be wracked with guilt.

Prepare the cake mix per box directions.

Pour ½ of the cake batter into a greased tube pan or bundt pan. Take the apple mixture and gently spoon it over the batter. Pour the remainder of the batter over the apples. Gently thump the pan on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles.

Bake as directed on package or until center is set. Be sure to test after required time as this may take longer to finish due to the apple content. I like to use a bamboo skewer to test for doneness.

Cool for 15 minute before removing from pan. Finish cooling on wire rack.