Happy Birthday to Me--Apple Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

No, Ryan, I will not invite Sam to my birthday party (even if I were having a birthday party). And no, Ryan, I will not make a helicopter cake for my birthday. However, I will (as you rightly suspected) be making my own cake.

I have had some softer apples in the fridge that I have wanted to do something with, and apple cake was sounding like an interesting idea. So when my birthday rolled along I decided that's what kind of cake I would be making. It is a fairly dense, but moist cake. It didn't call for spices like cinnamon, allspice, or nutmeg in the batter. I meant to add some, but forgot. To make up for no spice in the batter I used Jen's Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting which I found in the Family Cookbook. I halved the frosting recipe and had just enough to frost a two layer cake. However, when making the frosting I forgot to halve the vanilla and cinnamon--I would keep with the original proportions. It was a little too much, but I still love the Cinnamon Frosting recipe. (Thanks, Jen for sharing it!)

I need to learn the "when in doubt" theory when it comes to using nuts. This is the second time that I have thought my nuts were "good enough" to use in a recipe, only to be disappointed in the final result. Fortunately, Brett didn't seem to notice the little aftertaste of not-quite-fresh-nuts. He rather enjoyed the cake.

Fresh Apple Cake
Source: No idea--I've had the recipe copied down on an index card for years.

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cooking oil
2 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon [I added the lemon juice to the apples after grating them to keep them from browning while I mixed the batter]
3 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3 cups tart apples, peeled and chopped [I grated them in my food processor]
1 1/2 cups pecans, broken

Mix sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, salt, and lemon juice. Beat well. Sift flour and baking soda together and add gradually to first mixture. Batter is quite stiff before apples and pecans are added. Add apples and pecans. Blend well. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done. Cool on a wire rack.
[I baked my two 9" round cakes in a 325 degree oven for about 45 minutes.]

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: The Family Cookbook
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add about half of the powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in enough of the remaining powdered sugar until spreading consistency.