Chocolate Castles as wel

Today I had volunteered to bring an apple cake for a dear friends birthday celebration. This is one of her favorite cakes, especially the praline frosting. If she was at the house when I might be making the frosting, she would stand there with a spoon, eating the frosting right out of the bowl. So, as per her request, I made an apple cake with her favorite frosting. There is an apple cake that is already on the blog, but for some reason, this new recipe caught my eye, as it had a 1/2 cup of orange juice in the batter. Because it is so much fun to try new flavor combinations, this one intrigued me. All I can tell you is the women at the party all commented, saying they wanted the recipe. It really was, we thought a great flavored apple cake. Very moist, yet not mushy or soggy, as some apple cakes tend to get. Because it had a little less than the 3 cups of chopped apples that a lot of recipes call for, it had a little more cake texture to it. This will now be my “go to” recipe for apple cakes.

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teas vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teas baking soda
1 teas cinnamon
1 heaping teas pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teas salt
2 1/2 cup chopped apples, finely diced (Gala apples worked well in this recipe)
* If you add 1 cup of chopped pecans, add them when you add the apples

Combine melted butter, oil, sugar, eggs. Mix until well combined. Add orange juice and vanilla. Stir until completely mixed.

In another bowl, combine flour, spices, baking soda, and spices.
Stir flour mixture and then add to sugar/oil mixture. Mix until no lumps remain. Then add the apples and nuts (if desired). Stir until well combined. Pour into a greased and floured large bundt pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes, or until cake test done.

When cool, turn out onto a cake plate. Pour praline frosting over entire cooled cake.

Praline Frosting

Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in a small saucepan with 1 cup of light brown sugar. Stir consistently until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.

Pour over 2 cups powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add chopped nuts if desired. If needed, add about 2-4 tables whipping cream to get frosting to spreading consistency. Add 1 teas vanilla and continue beating. When cake is cooled, pour over entire cake.