What a perfect, yet unusual, combination -- fresh apples, cocoa and chocolate. And autumn is the perfect time to make this delicious cake, for apples are in season and chocolate always is.
Fresh apple cakes have been popular for decades -- I have about a dozen hand-written recipes in my collection, dating from about 1900 onward. There are also a lot of applesauce cakes, a genre invented, I suppose, as a way to use the canned surplus from the apple harvest (and only recently co-opted as a way to bake with less fat, as in replace the butter with applesauce).
Out of all my recipes, I chose this one just out of curiosity: would this odd combo work? The verdict: yes, and very well. And even better the second day.
Let's get started. Chop the apples into a small dice; don't worry if the the pieces aren't uniform.
This is a beautiful, smooth batter, until . . .
The chopped apples, nuts and chocolate chips are added.
The recipe, below, is unusual too. In some ways, it's quite detailed (ingredient amounts, method) but then it fails to mention which cake pan to use (I used a 10" tube pan) or a baking time estimate (I baked it about 45 minutes).
Enjoy!
