Apple dapple, I think I love you.

I’d never heard of this charming cake until a nice reader, Helen, sent it to me declaring it her favorite childhood dessert (so much so that she requested large batches of it to be made and served at her wedding reception the week before Christmas). Of course, with that kind of recommendation I had to try it.

In all honesty, though, I wondered if the lightly spiced apple cake could really woo me. And no offense to Miss Apple Dapple, but I put off making it for a little while. Finally, last Sunday we tried it. And it was definitely one of those moments where I was berating myself (and my family was berating me) for waiting so long to make it. I felt very berated.

It is amazing. Amazing and simple and wonderful. The cake alone is this fabulous concoction of lightly spiced cake batter plumb full of juicy apple — when baked, it puffs into the softest, most tender cake to ever meet these cake-loving lips.

On top of that (literally), the warm vanilla cream sauce drizzled lightly over the cake puts this into other-worldly spheres. Served warm, it is like the most comforting perfect dessert ever.

Ever.

There were two pieces left over, swimming in extra cream sauce in the fridge, and when clean-out-the-fridge-for-dinner-night rolled around that week, the entire family was literally throwing elbows for the privilege of this cake. We all managed a bite or two of the leftovers while I told my family how lucky they were I didn’t do what I was now regretting: eat the leftovers days ago for breakfast. Lesson learned.

Apple Dapple Cake with Warm Vanilla Cream Sauce
Yield: Makes 9-12 servings

I use the large holes of my box grater to shred the apple. Also, if you think you are on the saucier end of the spectrum, you might consider doubling the cream sauce. I thought the recipe as written was the perfect amount of sauce to drizzle lightly over each piece of cake but if you want to all out drench the cake...then go ahead and increase the sauce.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 8 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 4 cups peeled, cored and grated/shredded apple (about 5 large apples) plus any accumulated juice

Cream Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup whipping cream

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until well-combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until light and creamy.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet batter and mix until just combined and a few dry streaks remain. The batter will be very stiff but will thin out after the apples are stirred in.

4. Stir in the grated apple with any accumulated juice and mix until combined. No need to overmix, just stir until the apples are incorporated.

5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. For the cream sauce, while the cake is baking, combine the butter, cream and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is combined. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and keep warm until ready to serve.

7. Cut the warm cake into pieces and drizzle with the warm cream sauce.

Recipe Source: adapted from Helen C., a MKC reader (I cut down the sugar in the cake batter and added vanilla to the halved cream sauce recipe)