Apple Dapple Cake w/ Brown Sugar Glaze

By msippigrl

Moist apple cake with fresh apples and pecans and a sweet praline-like drizzle.

Ingredients

• Cake batter:
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (up to 2 cups if using tart apples)
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil (I used canola)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups peeled and chopped apples (about 3 medium)(I used Honey Crisp variety)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 8 pecan halves for pan, optional
• Glaze:
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark)
• 1/4 cup whole milk or half-and-half

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Arrange pecan halves (upside down) in the bottom of the pan, if desired. Set pan aside.

In a large mixing bowl and using a mixer, beat together the sugar, eggs, and oil until creamy, 3-4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Sift the flour over the egg mixture in the bowl; add cinnamon and nutmeg and combine well. (I used a rubber spatula first (to reduce the flour dust) then used the mixer to finish combining.)

Peel and chop the apples; then gently fold apples and pecans into the batter with a spatula. CAREFULLY spoon (so the pecans don't shift) a heaping tablespoon of the batter over each pecan half in the pan. Pour the remaining batter into the pan.

Bake in the center of the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until center tests done with a toothpick. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then loosen the cake from the pan and turn out onto a serving plate, pecan side up.

In the meantime, make the Glaze:
Melt the butter in a medium non-stick saucepan over medium heat; add the brown sugar and milk and bring to a boil, at first bubble cook for exactly 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk for 2-3 minutes to cool slightly.

If you haven't done so already, turn the cake out onto a serving plate. Slowly drizzle the glaze over the cake. Use any leftover glaze to drizzle over individual slices at serving.