• back issues
• gallery
• discussion
• blogs
• donate

Apple Walnut Cake

by Peggy Deames

• 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.