Spiced Apple Walnut Cake

Anthony has become quite the chef over the years.  He loved the cooking channel when we had Directv.  He learned a ton and now does a majority of the cooking.

One of our favorite desserts that he learned to make is a spiced apple walnut cake.  For the last few years he would make it around Christmas time.  It was his answer to the dreaded fruit cake.  But unlike that cake, this cake is fantastic.  It never lasts more than a day or two - it's soooo good we just can't not eat it!

This year he didn't make any because he lost his recipe.  He looked at several recipes he found on the internet, and even tried one he thought was it, but they weren't the right ones.

Finally he found the right recipe on Food Network.com (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/spiced-apple-cake-recipe2/index.html).  But just in case that goes away sometime, I'm putting the recipe here so we won't lose it again.  This recipe makes the ugliest looking cake in the world, but it tastes delicious!

Spiced Apple Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 cups white sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (Anthony added this ingredient to the recipe)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped (about 1/2" chunks) (about 4-6 apples)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.  Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan (Anthony just sprays a 9"x13" glass baking dish instead). Combine dry ingredients and set aside.  Whip eggs until frothy (this step is important), about 3-4 minutes then add oil and orange juice and mix thoroughly.  Add dry ingredients and beat with whip at low speed until thoroughly combined.  Fold in apples and walnuts and pour into prepared cake pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until firm on top (Anthony's is usually a little crispy on the top edges but still a bit soft in the center of the top).  Cover with aluminum foil if top gets too brown.  Cool on rack 5 minutes, then serve (if they can wait that long).

This cake doesn't need any frosting or topping of any kind.  It's sooooo good - mmm!

Lights at Temple Square

Wednesday after Christmas, we decided to go downtown to see the lights and Christmas displays at Temple Square.  I thought that since Christmas was over, the crowds would be gone or at least a lot smaller.  They weren't.  Also, I didn't realize that there was a Jazz game playing that night.  We gave up trying to find a spot or a lot and parked in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building parking lot and prepared to pay $2 per hour.  We parked just before 8 pm and didn't leave until after 10.  The building closed at 10, so when we left the garage - since no one was there to take our payment, we got to park for free.  Yay!

The weather was excellent and the lights were lovely.  We introduced the kids to the Assembly Hall and the Tabernacle where there was an organist playing.  We watched the nativity display and walked around the Visitor's Centers, and took a lot of pictures.