Caramelly. Appley. Delicious.

This is the last cake that The Cake Slice Bakers are baking from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott and boy was it delicious. Scratch that...it was DELICIOUS. I've been baking with the cake slice bakers for 17 months. I did miss a couple months, but overall I have baked 15 cakes with this group and this one tops my list. I'm not quite into the pumpkin baking mode just yet, but I ain't got no problem with apples. We eat apples year round (Fuji's are our favorites) but I don't bake much with them. This was a nice treat and I'll definitely be making this one again. I'm sure my mother-in-law wouldn't mind either.

Ooh, by the way, I was asked to redesign The Cake Slice Bakers badge and this is what I came up with. What do you think?

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. Firstly, I cut the recipe in half because between the two of us, we can't finish off a 9x13-inch cake. I baked this in an 8-inch Pyrex, reduced the amount of oil, omitted the nuts and added cinnamon, because that's how I roll. I was afraid this cake would be too sweet with the glaze, but after it cooked it was almost caramel-like. Be sure to save yourself a spoon of the glaze and eat it while it's still warm-- awesome. After the cake set, the glaze did set up as a glaze and not a caramel, but it wasn't overly sweet. In fact it was so buttery despite there only being 3 Tbsp. of butter in there. This cake was so moist and not the least bit oily. The glaze settled into the cake and the whole thing tasted like a caramel apple. Insanely good. I shared half of this cake with the in-laws and we managed to stretch this cake out to three days. The good thing? It gets better with age. And is awesome warmed slightly with a scoop of vanilla.

When I first joined The Cake Slice Bakers, we baked from Sky High Cakes, then Southern Cakes and starting next month, we're moving on to a new cake book. Since we're baking from a new book (it's a secret for now) we're inviting new members to join us. If you're interested in baking along with The Cake Slice Bakers and can commit to baking one cake a month and posting it on your blog on the 20th, then please email Katie at Apple & Spice 1). your name 2). blog name 3). blog URL to appleandspice[AT]hotmail.co.uk with ‘Cake Slice Member’ as the subject and she will contact you with the details of how to join. You have until October 20th to sign up. I hope to be baking with some of you next month!

Fresh Apple Cake w/ Brown Sugar Glaze adapted from Southern Cakes

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Apple Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream

For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

Please don't wait til the weekend to make this!