All-Falls-Eve

Today is one of my most favorite days of the year (excluding the magic of Christmas Eve and my children's birthdays, of course). I absolutely adore Fall. And even though it officially began September 21st, for me, Fall starts October 1. So today is really "All-Falls-Eve". (I know it's not correct to capitalize "Fall" but I can't help it. Sometimes the whimsy of the heart must over rule the regulations of grammar.) The weather is glorious; the sun is bathing everything it touches in color, the southerly breezes are warming my clean clothes on the backyard line, the chickens are taking dust baths in little trenches in the garden space they made just for dust bathing, the turkeys are all spread out in their yard soaking up vitamin D. It's all very peaceful. (Kind of like the calm before the winter storm.)

So to celebrate the glory that is Fall, I'm baking a Jack Apple cake. This is a wonderful recipe that was given to me when we lived in Appalachia way back when. The kids love it. So here's the recipe. It makes two loaves when baked in a bread pan and I already have a couple in the oven as I write this. The house smells amazingly-wonderful. Just the thing for All-Falls-Eve.

Jack Apple Cake

3 large eggs
2 ¾ cup flour
3 large apples
2 cups sugar
¼ cup honey, heated
1 stick butter, melted
a dash cinnamon or more if you like cinnamon
1 ¾ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking powder

Peel and dice apples and place in a large bowl with 1 ½ cups sugar (set aside other half cup for topping), sprinkle the cinnamon over the apples then drizzle the warmed honey and mix into a nice gooey concoction . Allow to cool in the 'fridge for 2 hours. Do not skip this step. After 2 hours, add all wet ingredients (half melted stick of butter, eggs, oil, vanilla) and mix with a gentle hand. Add in tablespoon baking powder. Add flour and gently stir the batter. It will be wet. Pour into greased bread loaf pan. Now melt other half stick of butter, add to it the held back sugar and some cinnamon and mix them into a paste. Use a spoon to drip it over the batter. This step makes a kind of crust that bakes into the cake. Bake at 350 degrees 30-40 minutes. Watch the cake. Sometimes it seems to bake fast and you REALLY don't want to burn this baby. When knife comes out clean it’s done. Serve warm with homemade whipped cream.

Then sit back and smile as your eaters will think they have the most magnificent mother who ever lived.
And they will be right.