When I think of apples, I think of Daddy and how he entertained his grandchildren and great-grandchildren with his apple peeling skills. He always kept a sharpened pocket knife in his pocket.

Starting at the top of the apple near the stem, he would slowly trim round and round. He would end up with one long apple peeling and he would hold it up for them to see. The kids were mesmerized.

Each child brought their apple and their bowl to him sitting in either his overstuffed lazy boy chair or his porch rocker. Then they would patiently wait. They would watch as he went round and round and the peel would get longer and longer. After he displayed the peel holding it up like a long snake, he cut the apple in small bite-size wedges and dropped into their bowls. Childhood – it is the little things that the kids remember.

My son and his wife recently went visited Mercier Orchards in Georgia and brought me back a jar of apple butter So I decided it was just enough to make this pound cake and I got busy. Now I have never felt inclined to make apple butter so this was a great opportunity.

This is a cold oven pound cake meaning you do not preheat the oven. It is similar to many of my pound cakes but for the stirring in of the apple butter mixture at the end. A caramel icing tops it off.

So if you come across some apple butter and have a little time, this will be a great cake to make. It might even conjure up some childhood memories when you get a waft of that apple and cinnamon baking traveling across the house.

Yield: 12-15 SLICES

APPLE BUTTER POUND CAKE WITH CARAMEL ICING

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Moist pound cake with apple butter flavor topped with thick caramel icing and pecans

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

CAKE

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 /2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup apple butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 3 sticks butter (4 oz), room temperature
• 1 8-oz package Cream Cheese, room temp
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

ICING

• 1 cup brown sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 stick (4 oz ) butter
• 2 /3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Instructions

CAKE

Do not preheat the oven. Prepare 12-15 cup tube pan with baking spray with flour. I use Baker's Joy.

In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In another bowl, stir in brown sugar, pecans, and apple butter. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add butter and cream cheese. Beat until smooth.

Add granulated sugar and beat about 4 minutes or until white and fluffy. Scrape sides with a spatula to make sure all ingredients beat well.

Add eggs, one at a time and beat just until the yellow disappears. Add vanilla.

With the mixer on low, begin adding the flour mixture, one cup at a time. When all has been added, speed up the mixture for a few seconds and scrape down the sides.

Fold in the apple butter mixture with a large spoon. It may appear streaky and that is great.

Place in a cold oven and set at 300 degrees. This is a slow baking cake. When it has baked for the 80 minutes, check the top to see if it springs back. If it does not let it bake another 10-15 minutes and check again.

Remove from the oven. Cool in tube pan for about 10 minutes. The turn onto a warming tray or plate. Completely cool.

ICING

In a saucepan, melt the butter.

Add sugar, salt, and cream and cook over medium-high, stirring constantly.

When the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth, increase to high and boil about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool about 10 minutes.

Whisk in confectioners sugar. You can pour immediately but I like for mine to sit and thicken up about 5 minutes before I pour.

Garnish with pecans.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1230Total Fat: 80gSaturated Fat: 47gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 307mgSodium: 591mgCarbohydrates: 121gFiber: 2gSugar: 94gProtein: 12g

Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, or the source of nutrition data.

“A few bad apples is no reason not to visit the orchard.”

– Lauren Weisberger