After I’ve gone through a magazine, there are always tabs left; paper reminders of recipes that I didn’t have time to get to. They hang around in the recesses of my mind, whispering ‘hello’ once in a while. It’s because of this that I’ve created Turn Back Time Tuesday. It’s a chance to go pull out an old magazine and make one of those recipes that doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. Care to join me?
The Dixie Classic Fair is the focus of all children in Forsyth County this week. Since the first flyers went up around town, it’s all Dudette’s been able to talk about, ask about, beg about. As a kindergartner, her first scholastic field trip was to the fair and she fell in love with the whole concept that day.
We took her back as a family last year and enjoyed meandering around the grounds, visiting booths, playing the occasional game and coaxing her to muster up enough courage to get on the more tame ‘big kid’ rides with us.
I have to admit that I did not try too hard because I have some very specific memories of those big kid rides. They’re not good. And I blame my brother.
Our family went to the fair. Because he and I are close in age, we were usually paired together. Most of the time that was a good thing. This time; not so much. We ended up in front of a ride that he wanted to go on so, so badly. He begged, pleaded and threatened me to join him. Being the ever-loving, demur and generous child that I was, I more than willingly agreed.
Ok, ok; he had to drag me kicking in screaming, but I did go. The ride itself looked like a ferris wheel, but the buckets were fully padded, completely enclosed, bullet shaped cages. That alone should have sent me running. But I was young and naive. And I trusted my brother.
We got in and the seedy looking ticket taker clicked the bar in place across our waists and shut the door. No, he locked the door. Directly in front of us was another bar, this one thickly padded, for us to hold on to.
Then the ride started. Initially, it was normal ferris wheel stuff. The whole wheel started to move, taking us to the top in increasingly fast rotations. At some point the cage began spinning, spinning us upside down and around again, all while the wheel continued to turn.
I don’t remember anything else except screaming and sobbing. Oh, and laughing; my brother laughing next to me. Laughing at the joy he felt in the ride and at me for being so unable to handle a simple fair ride. When it comes down to it, this is a big brother’s job, is it not?
When everything finally stopped; the ride, the terror, I tried to get out of the cage, but my fingers wouldn’t unclench. My brother had to literally peel those fingers off the padded bar. Even though I was able to walk away from the experience, I left the impressions of my terror embedded in that padding for the next rider to see.
We will take Dudette to the fair this week, and we’ll attempt to get her on a few of the non-caged, more sedate rides offered there. If we find out the hard way that she’s afraid any of those things, there will be cake waiting for her when she gets home.
Delicious, fall-inspired comfort food level cake.
The Process
When you make the cake, you might think that the batter is too thick, but don’t worry about that. The apples will release their moisture and give the cake the perfect consistency when baked.
Because I have a child that appears to have texture issues with her food, I’ve been trying to chop everything a bit more finely than usual, which is why the apple bits and nuts don’t end up glaringly obvious. As you’ll see in the verdict, it didn’t much help in this case, but I did try.
With regard to the frosting, I needed to add another half cup of confectioners’ sugar to get it to a consistency that was spreadable instead of pourable. For me, 1 1/2 cups was perfect.
The cake also needed well more than 1/4 cup of crystallized ginger to cover it. I tried it with the given amount and ended up with just 3-4 little bits on each slice; hardly enough for a taste. So I upped the amount to a half cup and gave the frosting a liberal sprinkling.
The Verdict
This cake received very high praise from everyone who tasted it. This included the family, our Sunday evening group, and my Tae Kwon Do bleacher buddy, Angie (hi Angie). Angie, who is not normally a lemon fan, especially liked the play of the lemon in the frosting with the apple and ginger in the cake.
Dudette, ah, Dudette, my mouth-feel, texture girl. She thought the cake tasted good but didn’t want a whole piece because she would have had to pick out all the little pieces of nuts. I stand in awe.
What I’d Do Different Next Time
Not a thing.
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large Granny Smith apples (about 2 lb.), peeled, cored and chopped
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup chopped crystallized ginger
- Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Mist a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Spread nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet; bake until lightly toasted, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring halfway through. In a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Fold in apples and walnuts. (Batter will be very thick.) Spread batter in pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Place on a wire rack and let cake cool completely.
- Make frosting: In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and butter. Beat in lemon juice. Reduce speed to low, then add confectioners’ sugar gradually. Fold in zest. Spread frosting on cake; sprinkle with ginger.
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Thanks for the recipe! I made a 1/2 batch in an 8×8 pan, no frosting. Yum!
You are so welcome. I'm glad you found it as delicious as we did. With cream cheese frosting, how could it not be!