catapult magazine

catapult magazine
 

Vol 5, Num 21 :: 2006.11.17 — 2006.12.01

 
 

Apple Walnut Cake

  • 1 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 4 cups unpeeled, chopped apples
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting

  • 2 3-ounce packages, cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

In mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs.  Add oil and vanilla, mix
well.  Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg;
gradually adding to sugar mixture, mixing well,  Stir in apples
and walnuts.  (Dough is very thick—you can use your hands to mix
and pat into pan).

Pour or pat into floured 13 X 9 X 2 pan. 
Bake at 350 degrees for  50-55 minutes or until cake tests
done.  Cool on wire rack.  Frost when cooled.

Frosting: 
Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together.  Gradually add
confectioner's sugar until desired spreading consistency is reached.

Yield:  16-20 servings.


This reads like a myriad of other recipes
that will be prepared and served in the upcoming holiday season but
there is a lot to read between the lines, as there is in most of
life.  What is the story of each ingredient that is blended to
prepare this dessert to share with my friend(s) at a special
meal?  The recipe and the Northern Spy apples came from Spirit
Springs, a family-owned specialty orchard that grows both heirloom and
modern apples.

Our local group of foodies known as the food group
(which gathers monthly to share a meal with local foods and converse
about all manners of food sustainability and spirituality) had a fall
field trip to this orchard where we tasted a variety of apples, sipped
fresh unpasteurized cider, and learned about heirloom apples many of us
had never knew existed.  These conversations and excursions have
served to re-connect us with all of creation and the Creator.

Never
will I look at a recipe again without wondering about where the
ingredients originated and whether they were grown in a way that
sustained the ground from which it came.  And were the farm
workers treated fairly and paid a living wage?  Just as I wish my
cake to foster community with the friends who gather to eat it, I hope
that those who labored to grow the farm products will have a
sustainable community in which to gather as well.

Where do I file this recipe?  Under "Just Desserts."

Oh,
and by the way the eggs came from our local community supported
agriculture farmer,  and the sugar was grown and produced
within  our state, and the vanilla was personally brought back
from Mexico by a friend.  And this big cake freezes well to allow
more folks to enjoy it as they come and go this season.

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