Bakerella and Working on my List

I love the website, Bakerella.  Part of me wishes that I had time to bake every day, to create all of the wonderful things she comes up with.  I know it's not my destiny, but I find joy in checking out her website each day to see what amazing thing she has come up with that day.

One of the things on my list of 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days was to create six of her wonderful concoctions!  I have made one of them before, but her items usually overwhelm me with their incredible...awesomeness.  My first attempt came awhile ago, almost a year ago, to be exact.  I love snickerdoodles, and when she showed this recipe I knew I had to try it!    They turned out pretty amazing and were a huge hit with all of the friends I made them for.

Life is a bit different now, with me working full-time, chasing a toddler, and pregnant, but I know that I can make at least six different recipes from her website.  I definitely want to try her famous Cake Pops at least once, but I thought I would start off easy.

She recently debuted a recipe for Apple Cake.  With the season and the weather lately, I knew it was the perfect recipe to kick of #70:  Make six of the wonderful creations from the Bakerella website.  It isn't a scary recipe, but it looks amazing!  I whipped it up in just half an hour last night, and we will be taste-testing it at dinner with some friends tonight!  I can't wait!

Check it out:

Bakerella's Easy Apple Cake

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped dates rolled in flour (We don't like dates, so I substituted Skor Toffee Chips)
1 cup chopped walnuts
Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon with a wire whisk and set aside.
• Combine sugar and oil using a mixer until blended.
• Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
• Add flour mixture and mix well.
• Stir in nuts, dates and apples. The batter will be very thick.
• Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.
• Cool cake and using a skewer, poke holes in cake.
• Cook topping ingredients on stove until mixture bubbles.
• Pour topping over cake letting some (ha… more if you like) seep into the cake.

Enjoy!

And here, for your drooling pleasure, are pictures!