French Apple Pie Bundt Cake & March's Give-Away Apron

My mom made the best apple pie; one of my dad's favorites.  One time, she decided to change it up a bit and make, what she called, a French Apple Pie and we all thought, "what's the special occasion:-)?" The one difference in French Apple Pie is that it has an icing glaze on top of the crust, which I was inspired to do, but in some recipes, a thick custard is pour through the slits when it comes out of the oven, something I didn't include when turning this pie into a cake.

In addition to the bundt cake I made today, I sewed the apron for March.  The fabric is from a quilt store I frequented when taking care of Kelly during her treatments--Q First in Quilting in Lexington, Kentucky.  In fact, I purchased the fabric when I was there with her in mid March before she passed away in May.  We had both bought fabrics; her selection was to make a quilt for her son, Ari from a blog she was following.  I helped her cut out the pieces, but she was hospitalized in mid April and was never able to complete the quilt (I'm working on finishing that for him). I have to say, it was hard sewing today and thinking back to that time when we both had such hope.  I will say, though, we had a good chuckle over the main fabric and the significance of the quote and I hope the recipient will too.

"Don't mess with my apron strings..." made us both think of my mother!  Besides an apron being part of the uniform of the day for Mom, it also described her personality:-D She had a heart of gold, but at barely 5-feet tall, she was someone you wouldn't want to tick off!

French Apple Pie Bundt Cake
1 1/2 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2 T Boiled Apple Cider 
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
2 large apples, peeled and grated (about 2 cups)

2 T Calvados (Brandy or warmed apple cider)

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 T Light Karo Syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 T half & half

Preheat oven to 325F-degrees.  Brush with melted butter and lightly flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

I used Honey Crisp Apples

Peel and grate the apples--you will get about 2 cups.

 In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars thoroughly--about 8 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the boiled cider* and vanilla.

(*as a substitute for Boiled Apple Cider, you can make your own by reducing 2 cups of apple cider to 1/2 cup)

Add the spices.

Mix well.  Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix on low to combine.  Stir in the grated apple and fold into the batter.  Spoon into prepared bundt pan.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden skewer poked in the middle comes out cleanly.  Immediately brush the top of the cake with the Calvados, brandy or warmed apple cider.  Let the cake set for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

Make the glaze.  Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake and allow to cool completely before serving.

 I can tell you that while the cake was baking my husband came into the kitchen and asked--"are you baking a apple pie!"  If that's not a testimonial, then, I don't know what is. Enjoy!