I'm baaaack... with apples on my mind!

It's been a while, friends!  I thought that I would have more time during our summer break to do more posts on this blog, but we had a busy summer with baseball season lasting until mid-July, two nieces born this summer, a couple of summer teacher workshops and meetings to attend here and there, and a whole lot of "areas" in my house that desperately needed to be cleaned up and out before August arrived.  Anyway, summer came & went and then those hectic first few weeks have school have just passed by and I am **almost** settled back into a routine.

Last weekend, my boys had their first football games and the weather was great - just a hint of coolness in the air!  It made me very hopeful that Fall would arrive and stay for a while.  (I LOVE summer, but I am ready for a change.  Besides, our summer here was filled with rainy days this year!)  So, to celebrate the almost-arrival of Autumn, I made a delicious Fresh Apple Pound Cake with Caramel Glaze.  It was heavenly.  Surprisingly, my I-do-not-like-pound-cake husband has eaten quite a few slices this week and I am pretty sure that last Sunday his slice of cake was his dinner (I take Sunday dinners off!).  I've had a few friends ask for the recipe, so I thought it would be perfect to share here.  I got the recipe from our local newspaper a few years ago.  I still have the clipping, but it doesn't name a source or an author in the part I have saved.  Whoever came up with this recipe has my thanks.  It's a great Fall-Kickoff dessert recipe!

Fresh Apple Pound Cake:

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. sugar
3 lg. eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. pecans, chopped medium-fine
2 c. apples, peeled, cored, & chopped finely (I used about 3 big apples)

1. Sift flour, soda, & salt into bowl.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat oil, sugar, eggs, & vanilla at medium speed for 3-4 minutes.  Gradually add in flour mixture and beat until smooth.
3.  Fold in pecans and apples.  Pour batter into a greased & floured bundt pan.
4.  Bake at 325 degrees F for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until done (see if a knife comes out clean).  Cool 20 minutes.

Caramel Glaze:

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. milk

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan, over low heat.  Once melted, whisk in brown sugar and milk.  Whisk until well-blended and has a texture similar to caramel sauce.  Drizzle over cake, once it has cooled for about 20-30 minutes.  *I drizzle 1/2 of this sauce over the cake after about 20 minutes of cooling.  Then I drizzle the remainder over it after it has cooled completely, so that some will stay on top, after some has already soaked into the cake. Yum!

Today, I woke up to temps in the upper 50s!  That means it'll be time to get NC Mountain apples any day now!  This recipe would be perfect for using up some of those delicious apples, straight from the orchard!  Hope you enjoy!