Crusty apple cake to celebrate reaching a milestone :-) - Let your taste buds do a tango

A presentation designed without an audience in mind is like a love letter addressed to "whoever it may concern" :-)

Tidbits of wisdom I heard and liked from a training I was attending as part of work last week. It was a fun training, quite a bit of learning and many eye openers too. While I enjoyed being in an enthusiastic group of learners and co workers for 2 days, I don't even want to think about the pile of unread emails and the follow ups that welcome me tomorrow when I get back. Oh well, that is for tomorrow and I don't want to spoil the remaining hours of the weekend :-)

What do you think of the quote at the top of this post? I liked it and I have wondered who would ever write a love letter that begins with the phrase "whoever it may concern"? May be some very imaginative soul perhaps? Then by inference there is a possibility that people also make presentations without an audience in mind? Hmm, what do you think? I was thinking about this post of mine as sort of a presentation (virtual definitely) where I do not really know my audience, I kind of know what I want to share with you, how much I would like to open up but I really do not know who is reading my blog post. So it is in a way a presentation made to unknown audience, agree? You will be the only one that can tell me if I did it right :-). So keep visiting, reading and commenting on the blog or on the facebook, I like them all. 

On that note, today is a special post as Sattvaa reaches its 300th post with this one. It has been a wonderful journey and I have enjoyed every moment of writing here. I have had my scheduled and unscheduled absences from the blogosphere but glad to see some of you come back for more and keep encouraging me with your lovely comments. I wasn't sure if the milestone marker had to be a sweet but am sticking with one since it is generally considered good to celebrate with sweets rather than spicy stuff :-)

Our weather has definitely changed from the hot summers to the nippy, breezy Autumn. It shows in the trees. I had never noticed so far that the ever greens this area is so famous for also shed some leaves, may be not as much as the other trees but they seem to lose some part of their body as autumn ushers in. It is almost as if nature telling that everything and everyone go through the circle of life and end comes to all things. I wonder why I never paid attention to it. I see it happening in my own backyard where sections of the pine trees have turned a deep red hue and getting ready to drop off. Autumn is at once beautiful and melancholy. 

The fall weather always brings back memories of crisp, crunchy apples we picked fresh off the trees back in east, haven't done that in a few years. The taste, crunch and crispness of freshly picked apple is something I am incapable of putting into words, they are some of the most delicious things you will eat. I like the crunchy variety of apples than those that are more 'floury', so usually I get gala apples for eating and the green granny smiths for pickling or cooking. I found a bag of these Sweetango apples at Trader Joe's - certainly a hybrid variety that claimed the sweetness of apples fused with citrus notes in them. Intrigued, I picked up a bag and have been munching on them this past week, in my opinion they are one of the best love marriages made of apples and citrus, very yum!

I had 3 more left in the bag when I decided to treat you all to a delicious apple cake. This is a cross between a cake and a pastry, soft and moist on the inside but with a flaky crust on top (almost like that of a pie, only inverted). So in the mood for celebration, I made it but then when the cake came out of the oven smelling 'Oh so heavenly' it dawned me that I had to find people to eat it :-(. Today being Sunday my Balvihar class kids came to the rescue as I took most of the cake to share with my class. Some of the more honest kids openly stated that the top reason that they come to the class was the lure of these goodies I often take from home while others asked coyly for seconds. At the end of 5 minutes, the box was polished off and I came home happily :-)

This is a very easy recipe and there is no butter in it though you can use it if you like :-). I used flax seed powder as egg replacement as I didn't want to add more applesauce and mask the real apple flavor away. You can use 2 eggs in this recipe or any other egg replacement you normally prefer. The best part is there is no long whisking involved, just mix everything together until they blend and pour into the cake pan. 

So here is my kids certified, delicious, crusty apple cake to celebrate Sattvaa reaching #300 and also to herald another autumn season into all our lives. Make it in your kitchens, send me your comments and enjoy :-)

What do you need to make apple cake? 

3 medium sized apples (Gala, red delicious, sweetango would work best)

2 cups all purpose flour

1.5 cups sugar

1/2 cup oil (I use canola oil)

1 Tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 Tsp nutmeg powder

2 Tbsp flax seeds powder (in place of 2 eggs)

6 Tbsp water

1.5 Tsp baking soda

How do you make apple cake? 

• Soak flax seeds powder in water, mix once and keep aside for about 10 minutes until it becomes gooey. 
• In a bowl, mix sugar, oil, flax seeds mixture, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder so they come together. 

• Peel, remove seeds and slice apples (size and shape is your preference)
• Sieve together the flour and baking soda into the bowl. 
• Mix a couple times and add the sliced apples. 

• Prepare a cake pan with a spray of cooking oil, preheat oven to 350F. 
• Using a fork, mix a few times until apples are coated well. 
• Scoop out the mixture into the prepared cake pan, smooth the top gently. 

• Bake for 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
• Take the cake onto a plate and let it cool. 

• Cut into wedges and serve. 

Note: 

• Since the sugar is not creamed fluffy, a crust forms on top of the cake which makes it more appealing and tasty in my opinion.