Apple Cake Recipe From Janet Willis

I got this Apple Cake recipe from Janet Willis.  (A friend, from a church that our family use to attend.)  I used some of the Winesap Apples we got from The Orchard to make it.  

Winesap is a well-known American heirloom apple, and was a major commercial variety in Virginia during the 19th century.  Its origins are unknown but it probably dates back to the 18th century.  It has all the qualities needed for commercial production - it is a regular heavy cropping tree with very little biennial tendency, and the apples can be kept in natural cold storage for a good three months or more.  It can be eaten fresh but is primarily a culinary apple, also popular for juice and cider production.

 I did not make the "Butter Sauce" to ice the cake with, but instead left it plain.    The "Butter Sauce" would make the cake a bit sweeter, and maybe more fancy/formal if you wanted to serve it after a sit-down meal with guests.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream next to the warm cake and this would make a lovely fall dessert that guests would remember for a long time.

The recipe calls for 4 cups of diced apples, so I diced 4 and a half medium sized Winesap Apples and the girls and I ate the remaining half of the last apple while I prepared the rest of the cake.

I substituted a stick of butter for the half cup of shortening.  The mixture of sugar, shortening (butter), salt, and cinnamon mixed easily together.

Next I added the flour and eggs to the mixture.  It was a little tough to stir, and became relatively dry, but when I added the diced apples to this mixture it got easier to stir/mix and more moist.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.  Then I greased a glass 9x13 baking dish and poured the apple cake mixture, spreading evenly in the pan with the back of a spoon, into the pan to bake.

I baked the Apple Cake for exactly 40 minutes.  Then, let it cool on the stove top.

We each ate a piece of the Apple Cake for dessert that night.  Everyone in the Hendrickson household liked it except Silas, who seemed to not like the little chunks of apples.  This is a recipe we would recommend.  It was very easy to prepare, and a good way to use up some apples.  (Any apple variety could be used)