Apple Butterscotch Cake, Column
The Covered Dish
Debbie Dance Uhrig
It’s been close to seven years, (I think) since I shared this ‘favorite’ cake recipe.
When I moved to Platte County, Missouri in 1983 I became friends with a multitude of educators. Lunchtime was busy, to say the least. Only a few brief minutes to make a phone call, eat lunch and tend to class planning. It was during those fast and furious lunches that I encountered many, and I do mean ‘many’ wonderful meals. Teachers, at least in the old days, enjoyed cooking. It was a good outlet for stress relief and creativity. If there’s one profession where you have to be creative it’s teaching. Educators also had recipes that were quick and easy to prepare.
Mary Jo Buckner Smith, a teacher at Platte County R3, in Platte City, Missouri introduced me to this cake. I loved it from the very first bite. It’s the mixture of the butterscotch and apple, on the palate. For those, like my family, who dislike icings, this is a perfect fit. Fresh whipped cream or a specialty ice cream will compliment this cake nicely. Thanks to the delicious apples the cake stays moist for days. It would also freeze nicely.
This past week I did lots of ‘bulk’ cooking at our home. I made about 3 dozen beef or egg burritos, salads and desserts over the past few days. Today was a very large pot of homemade spaghetti sauce. Our son, Phillip, put in a request for a batch to take back to college with him. One batch turned into a triple with spaghetti sauce traveling to 3 households.
After a bit of tweaking I got the sourdough bread back into service. Something happened with the mixture and it just sorta’ went flat. It’s back up sky high again and in one more feed the flavor should be back to normal. The week’s agenda is quickly filling in and the ‘do’ lists are mounting. It is so wonderful to be back outside enjoying the cooler weather. Cooking projects this week include baking zucchini bread, more beef burritos for an event, cottage cheese salad, frozen carrot salad, for the winter and who knows what else! There’s a bit of floral work planned for the entrance to the subdivision, power-washing a friend’s house, a bit of woodworking and ironing. Transplanting a bunch of airplane plants is in there someplace, yep, it’s another busy week.
We grabbed our good friend, Melody, on Saturday, and drove to Lockwood, Missouri. There’s a store there called, ‘Prairie Mercantile’, open Wednesday thru Saturday. They sell t shirts, sweat shirts, jackets, caps etc. that are flawed (usually not visible) or over-runs. The products are from those being made for National parks across the United States. My new sweatshirt has ‘Vermont’ on it! Cost, well hold on to your jodhpurs: T-shirts around $2, sweatshirts $5-10, jackets $10.
It is just a blast to go up and shop. Be sure and have favorite colors and sizes before you go as it is a bit out of the way. Then it’s a quick jaunt over to Cooky’s Café in Golden City for lunch. There will be around 20-25 different types of pie to choose from. What did I get? I went traditional this time and had a favorite, crumble top apple pie. There was even sugar-free pie available.
(While eating we got to visit with a bicyclist who was crossing the US from Washington State. He had heard about Cooky’s for the last 200 miles.)
Coming home we stopped in Marionville, at the orchard, for fresh picked Jonathan apples. The weekend excursion thing is so new to me, after working Saturdays, for over 11 years. Covid has removed many activities, but with a bit of creativity there’s still a great deal of fun, at our fingertips. Start planning a drive and picnic to enjoy the fall leaves, in October. Nothing better than a weekend drive and a phenomenal picnic. And I don’t mean McDonald’s either!
Go forth, be steadfast in your faith and positivity. Instead of complaining, get involved! Simply yours, The Covered Dish. www.thecovereddish.com
Apple Butterscotch Cake
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups diced and peeled apples
12-16 ounce bag of butterscotch chips
Mix the dry ingredients together and mix using a whisk. Stir all the wet ingredients into the dry, adding the apples last. Reserve the butterscotch chips until the very end. Pour the batter into a 9 x 13 baking pan; sprinkling the butterscotch chips over the top. For a metal pan set oven at 350 degrees and for a glass dish set temperature at 325 degrees. With the metal pan it will take 40-50 minutes to bake. As in most cases you can plan on about 16 servings from a 9 x 13 baking pan. The cake is especially yummy served warm with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Test the cake with a toothpick for doneness.
