Apple Season

Mike and I went camping in the Berkshires this weekend and it was a lot of fun, although we froze our butts off due to our problems creating fire. We also went apple-picking at Bartlett's in Richmond, MA. It was great! I had never been apple-picking before and I was bouncing around like a kid in a candy store. We got Cortlands, Empires, MacIntoshes, some Red Delicious, and Mutsu apples, which are my new favorites. No Granny Smiths, but I will survive. So now I have twenty pounds of apples and I need to use them! (Oh, and we also went vegetable picking at his aunt's farm, but more on that later). I plan on using a lot of the apples for apple butter, but for now I have made Norwegian Apple Cake (again) and this yummy Buttery Apple Loaf Cake from Desert Culinary. This loaf cake thing is super tasty. We have enjoyed it a lot this morning with some coffee. There is a lot of butter, so one should not eat it all the time. However, it is a nice treat.

Buttery Apple Loaf Cake
For the topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 3/4 cups peeled and diced tart apples

1)Preheat oven to 350.
2) For the topping: in a medium bowl, mix together flours, sugar, butter and cinnamon until crumbly.
3) For the batter: in a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter and milk. Add to the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.
4) Place half of the batter into a 9 x 5" loaf pan coated with nonstick spray. Cover the top with half of the apples and half of the topping mixture. Place the remaining batter on top and spread to cover. Scatter with another half of the topping mixture, the remaining apples and finish with the leftover topping.
5) Bake until golden and a toothpick placed in the center comes out mostly clean - about 70-80 minutes. Remove and place on a wire rack. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then carefully remove. Let cool completely.