B.O.B. Bob and I have a new show that we can watch together without totally wanting to strangle one another afterward. The Great British Bake Off is a show that we can both appreciate, all be it in totally different ways. B.O.B. Bob finds it absolutely fascinating, while I find it horrifying, to say the very least. Basically, these poor souls spend hours in the kitchen putting their heart and soul into a recipe, only to have cruel, sadistic, and berating individuals like B.O.B. Bob pray for their failure. In the meantime, I can usually be found on the edge of our couch in absolute shock and disgust as the contestants are basically asked to make a three-tier something or other with just a cup of flour, a whisk, jellied something or other, some sort of funky sugar icing, and a random piece of tin foil. Oh, and by the way, they have like two hours to do it and very limited instructions to make it happen. Sure. No problem. Utter madness I tell you. Rubbish. Just sheer sadistic craziness.
Last night, as we watched the catastrophe otherwise known as Victorian Week, B.O.B. Bob and I turned and looked at one another with a look of absolute confusion. What the holy heck is a Tennis Cake was the only thought going through our minds. Well y’all, this is what a Tennis Cake is. Once again, utter madness. Who the hell takes a fruit cake and tops it with a bunch of crap that has no business being on top of a cake. Layer upon layer of nasty added “fluff” does not always make a cake taste better, and who in the world wants to eat a cake that looks like an Easterfied tennis court? Brits be crazy, is all I have to say on the matter. Thank goodness this month’s apple-themed #BundtBakers challenge, hosted by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, involved absolutely no crazy instructions or funky ingredients, unless of course, you consider baking a cake for over an hour and a half crazy, or Crockpot Cinnamon Praline Pecans a funky ingredient.
I’m not gonna lie; this cake has a little added “fluff” on top of it folks, but it fits y’all. It gives this moist apple-studded cake a bit of extra sweetness and added crunch. All totally good things in my opinion. This recipe was originally given to me by my Aunt Helen after I tried her Jewish Apple Cake at a family cookout and fell in love with it. I haven’t perfected it yet, but you can guarantee that I’ll be making it again in the next week or two to get it just right. I love everything about this cake, except for the called for hour and forty-five minute baking time. No cake should take that long to bake. After an hour, I finally caved in and tented the cake to prevent further burning on the top as it baked, but the sides of the cake were still a “little crispy” to say the least. I finally pulled the cake out after an hour and a half, left it covered with the foil, and allowed the cake to steam a bit more on the counter before removing the foil and flipping the cake out onto a cake plate.
Instead of going the British route and slathering the cake with marzipan or gussying it all up with half-assed looking tennis net decorations, I plan on changing things much more subtly for the next bake. I’m pretty sure that by dropping the temperature to 325 degrees, tenting the cake at just right the moment, and keeping a close eye on the cake every five to ten minutes, the cake will turn out close to perfect next go around. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I’m gonna go back and watch the rest of this week’s Victorian challenge, and try and figure out why anyone could think that putting royal icing decorations in an oven to bake might actually be the proper thing to do. Once again, Brits be crazy, and in some cases thick as a brick. Jellied anything is wrong on so many levels. It just shouldn’t be done ever, ever, ever.
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 1/2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Cup Canola Oil
- 1/3 Cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Grated Orange Zest
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
Apples:
- 4 Large Granny Smith Apples (Peeled, Cored, and Sliced Thinly)
- 5 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
Praline Pecan Glaze:
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Milk
- Crockpot Cinnamon Praline Pecans
Directions:
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a Bundt pan with butter; set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, oil, orange juice, vanilla, and zest together in a large bowl till well combined.
- Use a silicone spatula to mix in the remaining dry cake ingredients. Beat the batter until all of the flour is incorporated.
Apples:
- Mix all of the ingredients together until the apples are evenly coated.
- Place 1/4 of the batter in the bottom of a Bundt pan, top with 1/4 of the apples, and then repeat for three more layers, ending with a layer of apples on top.
- Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. (After 45 minutes of baking time, check on the cake every 10 minutes to ensure that it is not over-browning. Tent the cake with foil if necessary.)
- Test the cake every 5 minutes during the last 15 minutes of baking time to see if it is done.
- Allow the cake to rest for 30 minutes before turning it out onto a serving plate.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
Praline Pecan Glaze:
- Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl, add milk, and whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle 2/3 of the glaze over the cooled cake, top with praline pecans, and then drizzle with the remaining glaze.
Suggestions:
- The cake batter will be extremely thick; you will most likely need to use your fingers to help get the batter off of the spatula and into the Bundt pan.
- It is best to fan the apple slices out to ensure a gorgeous cake design. You may not see it, but you’ll know it’s there. It will also ensure that the apples are evenly distributed throughout the cake.
- Use this recipe for Crockpot Cinnamon Praline Pecans.
- After the cake has baked for 45 minutes, check on it every 10 minutes to ensure that it is not overbaking. Tent the cake with foil if the top is over-browning. Every oven cooks differently, so testing is absolutely necessary.
Improvements:
- Use caramel sauce in lieu of the powdered sugar glaze.
- Add additional chopped praline pecans to the cake batter.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Cup Canola Oil
- 1/3 Cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Grated Orange Zest
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 4 Large Granny Smith Apples (Peeled, Cored, and Sliced Thinly)
- 5 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Milk
- Crockpot Cinnamon Praline Pecans
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a Bundt pan with butter; set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, oil, orange juice, vanilla, and zest together in a large bowl till well combined.
- Use a silicone spatula to mix in the remaining dry cake ingredients. Beat the batter until all of the flour is incorporated.
- Mix all of the ingredients together until the apples are evenly coated.
- Place 1/4 of the batter in the bottom of a Bundt pan, top with 1/4 of the apples, and then repeat for three more layers, ending with a layer of apples on top.
- Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. (After 45 minutes of baking time, check on the cake every 10 minutes to ensure that it is not over-browning. Tent the cake with foil if necessary.)
- Test the cake every 5 minutes during the last 15 minutes of baking time to see if it is done.
- Allow the cake to rest for 30 minutes before turning it out onto a serving plate.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
- Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl, add milk, and whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle 2/3 of the glaze over the cooled cake, top with praline pecans, and then drizzle with the remaining glaze.
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#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.
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- Double Caramel Apple Bundt by The Crumby Cupcake
- Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Apple Bundt by Food Lust People Love
- Jewish Apple Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
- Jewish Praline Pecan Apple Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Lighter Jewish Apple Cake by Cookaholic Wife
