Once again, a juicy, delicious apple is the centerpiece of our featured recipe, the fourth in our series of apple-themed October treats. This Adirondack apple cake looks difficult to make, but we’ve simplified it by using a boxed cake mix as our base. (If you’re so inclined, however, feel free to make it from scratch!) With just a few additional ingredients needed, this pretty dessert will look like it took more time and effort than it actually did.

Recipe yields 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix for a single-layer cake
• ½ cup water
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 McIntosh or Cortland apple, diced
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 pint of your favorite vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to the temperature specified on the box.
2. Combine the cake mix according to the directions on the box, using ½ cup water and an egg.
3. Grease a 9 by 9-inch cake pan with butter.
4. Pour the cake batter in the pan.
5. Toss the apples with cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top of the cake batter.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
7. Remove and let cool before serving.

For bakery-style flair, sprinkle confectioner’s sugar across the top of the finished cake. Serve warm, adding whipped cream or ice cream if desired. Aren’t warm desserts especially delicious as the days grow cooler?

Stay tuned next Wednesday for our fifth and final apple-themed recipe: apple jelly!

— Story by Anne Rathe