Welcome to Fall, Smell the Spice

When I think of the season of Autumn, I think of feelings and smells. Sitting in a big chair with a hot cup of tea, snuggled in an extra large sweater. The warm scent of apple and spices, and the taste of sticky warm caramel sauce so buttery that it melts in your mouth. Having a slice of this apple cake defines the memory of what makes a fall day beautiful.

This specific recipe is wonderful because of the apple choice. Sweet (instead of sour) apples are used to make a quick home made apple sauce. I prefer Honeycrisp apples, as fresh as possible when they are most delicious.

The Honeycrisp apple is both sweet and slightly tart, but when you bite into it the skin snaps and the flesh floods into your mouth with a refreshing juiciness.

Apple Sauce: 6 Honey Crisp Apples, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 lemon. Peel your apples and chop them into chunks. Put them into a pot with the cinnamon stick and lemon juice. Cook until soft enough to mash with a fork or potato masher. Store in air tight container in the refrigerator for several weeks. Spread on toast and top with bacon. Eat cold straight out of the container. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar for an extra punch of flavor and then scoop up with graham crackers.

The cake above has a delicious spice from ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper! Ever thought to try pepper in a spice cake? Neither had I, but the heat that warms your throat after a bite of this delicacy is absolutely wonderful

When the apples have been cooked down ahead of time; the heat brings out the sweet sugars in the apples allowing their juices to form the liquid in the applesauce. A cinnamon stick adds just the right warmth to these apples that gives it the "I cooked this all day long". This combined with the spices in the cake, give a beautiful balance of spiced warmth and tart sweetness that is unmatched by anything else. Then butter and sugar!

My personal favorite bite is the caramel sauce that has dripped off the edge of this cake. It is loaded with delicious salted butter that brings the sugars to a beautiful creamy and melt able texture that sticks with you even after you have finished the slice. Pull up a soft chair, a warm sweater, and some lovely rain drops outside and sit down with this warm and comforting cake, and never leave that last glob of glaze, scoop it up and let it melt slowly on your tongue reminding you of fall and the beautiful harvest of apples that came with it.