Irish Apple Cake

     For my MOPs Christmas meeting all the groups participated in a table decorating contest.  For our table, the Spirited Sisters, I came up with an idea to feature different countries and how they celebrate Christmas.  So each lady picked a country to research then bring decorations and a sweet treat to share with the rest of the group.  I picked Ireland.  So for my sweet treat I brought this Irish Apple Cake.     

Recipe from The Kitchen McCabe

What you need:

3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

6oz unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

4 large Golden Delicious Apples

2 eggs (room temperature)

3/4 cup milk

2 TBsp sugar (for sprinkling on the top)

How to make it:

Grease and flour an 8" or 9" round springform pan (using an 8" pan will give you a taller cake).

Preheat oven the oven to 375˚F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.

Make sure the bowl is very large to allow room for the apples to be folded in.

Cut the butter into the flour using your fingers or pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Add the 3/4 cup sugar to the flour mixture and mix in.

Peel the apples and slice into uniform pieces (this cake works best and gets that 'chucky apple look' if the slices are about 1/4" wide then cut into 3 pieces.

Toss the apples into the flour mixture and combine them thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk together.

Add to the apples and flour, mix in with a large spatula until just combined.

Batter will be thick and dough-like.

Transfer the dough into the prepared cake pan and flatten the top surface using the back of your spatula.

Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the cake.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Test the center for doneness, the top of the cake should be golden brown.

Let cool a bit before taking the cake out of the springform pan, then ENJOY!