A delicious buttermilk apple cake recipe studded with tender apples and topped with sugar and nutmeg.
On Family Dynamics
Our family of four relies heavily on a delicate balance of personalities. Brian, whether by nature or force of will, is stoic and patient almost all of the time. I strive for the same, but most days just holding it together feels like an accomplishment. If there’s one thing you don’t have a lot of as a parent of two, it’s space, both personal and mental, and I need a lot of it. I thought, now that our littlest one is in school five days a week, I’d have plenty of time to recharge and conquer the world, but it seems the more space I have, the more I need. Making up for lost time, no doubt. We had thought our girls each took after one of us – the oldest being sensitive and prone to the same types of high highs and low lows that her mother experiences. Until recently, our youngest seemed to have inherited her father’s quiet introspection and mellow exterior. I say until recently because just a couple weeks after she turned three, something changed. All of a sudden, there were tantrums, as well the intense desires and a stubbornness that you might expect from any other toddler turned preschooler. We just really didn’t think it would happen to us.
The shift has thrown off our familial personality balance, forcing me to suck it up and pretend to be competent when I’d rather just wallow in bed or wander off in the woods.
Apple Picking
A few weeks back, we went apple picking. When you pack up the car and drive far from home with the idea of doing something fun, the kids know. They know you’ve got skin in the game, and that this is their chance to throw fits and be awful, and that you probably won’t turn the car around and they’ll even have an apple cider donut by the end of the day. Our ride turned into one of those events and it sucked.
But I wanted my autumnal experience, beasts in the backseat or no, and so we trudged on. After everything I said in this post, you may or may not be surprised to learn that I’m actually fanatical about where my family goes to pick apples, and seeking out a low spray or organic orchard is important (because, you know, I don’t want my kids frolicking in a pesticide-laced meadow). So we headed toward the mountains for Henley’s Orchard, a low-spray family farm in operation since the 1930s. We pulled into a roadside stand to speak with the proprietor, a kind man with a gentle Virginia accent. We selected two pecks and got directions to the orchard. (You heard that right – we drove to the orchard and then drove back to the stand afterwards to pay for the apples.) Our oldest was bordering on monstrous by this point, and I bailed and went wandering among the apple trees using photography as my excuse. I meandered through the trees and eventually I got the shots I wanted, while Brian restored the girls with a quick picnic in the way-back of the station wagon. And in the end, we even got a little autumn idyll, even if just for a few moments.
What to Do with Your Apple Orchard Haul
Two pecks, it turns out, is a lot of apples. Slowly, we’ve been making our way through a mix of small but flavorful Winesaps and bright Honeycrisps. We’ve put up more than a few pints of roasted apple butter and I’m still planning on a traditional apple pie, but this buttermilk apple cake has proven to be the perfect way to enjoy our haul.
I found the recipe on Leite’s Culinaria, which features a trove of fantastic, meticulously tested recipes. Even better, the recipe was authored by none other than the Canal House Cooking team, Melissa and Christopher. With all their accolades, I had always thought Canal House was fancy – too fancy for a home cook like me. But at this year’s Big Harvest Potluck, I had the chance to meet them and learn more about their special brand of simple, well-crafted food and spare, beautiful imagery. They were kind enough to host a workshop on conveying a personal vision with photographs, and this picture of a Honeycrisp apple was part of our assignment. And so it feels full circle and right to be sharing my take on their buttermilk apple cake recipe here today.
Buttermilk Apple Cake
This pretty buttermilk apple cake has a moist crumb studded with generous hunks of apple that finish with the perfect amount of bite. It’s piled high with lemon zest and for extra tangy punch I went with a good slog of buttermilk. These bright notes suffuse the cake beautifully, making for a showpiece that’s also really down home and good. Though I’d steer clear of muddying spices like cinnamon, a few grates of fresh nutmeg lend appropriately autumnal vibes.
A delicious buttermilk apple cake recipe studded with tender apples and topped with sugar and nutmeg. Recipe adapted only slightly from Canal House Cooking Volume No. 7: La Dolce Vita via Leite’s Culinaria.
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , room temperature
- 3/4 cup turbinado sugar , plus 2 tablespoons for topping
- 1 egg , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg , plus more for topping
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- grated zest of 2 large lemons
- 4 small Winesap apples , peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease and flour a 9-inch springform cake pan.
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Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand held beaters, beat butter on medium speed until light and airy. Add 3/4 cup sugar, and continue beating until everything is pale and fluffy. Stop mixer as needed to scrape down sides. Switch mixer back on, and add the egg, followed by the vanilla.
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Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, use a fork to combine flour, baking powder, sea salt, and nutmeg.
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Switch mixer to low and add half the flour mixture, followed by all the buttermilk, and then the second half of the flour mixture. Add zest and mix on low just until combined.
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Spoon batter into prepared pan. Arrange apple slices in a circle along the outer edge of the pan, so that slices are set straight down onto batter. Create a star pattern inside the circle, and add one final slice at the very center. Sprinkle top with 2 tablespoons sugar and several grates of nutmeg.
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Place on a rimmed baking sheet and slide into oven. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
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Set cake aside to cool for a few minutes, then remove the springform side and allow to cool completely.
You need a big HUG! It’s so hard when you have a vision for how you want your day to go and the kids don’t cooperate. The trenches of motherhood are fierce and exhausting. The photos, however, are gorgeous and it just seems perfect that it was an apple recipe you used from Canal House, given their workshop at BHP1. Perfection!
Hi Carrie,
“The trenches of motherhood are fierce and exhausting.” I see a book maybe? At least a t-shirt. Best summation of motherhood I’ve seen in a long time. Thanks for the solidarity!
Been in that situation so many times with my kids! BUT your pictures are so stunning. I can’t stop looking at them. Apple picking on the East Coast is something I dearly miss. And that pie!!!
Thanks so much, Lindsey. I feel kind of funny using pretty picture to illustrate such a frustrating experience! And yes, apple picking is such a good fall thing out here –– sorry you’re missing it.
This looks amazing and the photos are beautiful Elizabeth!
Thank you kindly, Millie!
Dig this; I have never seen an apple tree in real life. I know, it’s crazy! But this post kind of makes me want to save it up until I can get to a real old-school orchard. And then, cake, of course.
Sarah! How can that be? It’s pretty amazing –– the trees are so small, and somehow manage to be completely covered with these gorgeous apples. It’s pretty magical. And yes, cake is a must.
Sigh… I lived 8 blissful years with a child who loved peaceful silences and mommy cuddles. A shy boy with an sweet, mellow personality. Then my daughter came along and it’s like a tornado blew into my life and threw me in a minefield. My Moonbug is sensitive, loud, moody, prone to tantrums, yet funny as hell. My days never go as planned with her and I’ve learned to let her be. Fighting her is like going against a rip current. Anyway – Your photos are breathtaking (glad you got away to take them) and your apple cake is pure perfection.
Oh Angela, I so relate to this. In these situations, I always remind myself that some of the qualities I most cherish in grown people are completely similar to those of unruly, authority-questioning kids. And I’m glad you’ve found a way to make things work again in your own family. xoxoxo
Lovely, lovely images and recipe! Three is an interesting age, as they turn into little people, right?
That’s such a smart way to look at it Aimee. The road to personhood is bumpy. And I do love this age, just not some of the details.
These photos are STUNNERS!! wow, love everything about this.
Thank you Sherrie! Here’s to a great fall.
Such a pretty cake. I love how few ingredients there are!
Yes! I love simple cakes too, Katrina. (So easy and good!)
Looks like a beautiful day. Apples are absolutely my favorite thing about fall. I like them in both sweet and savory dishes.
This cake looks so, so good!
Thanks, Kristie. So glad you like the recipe.
Such beautiful pictures, stories and recipes! I am absolutely in love with this cake!!! Definitely pinning and making! We have a #fooodiefridays linky party going on tonight would love to see you share some of your wonderful looking recipes! Come on by today at 8CST!
Thanks so much, Mila! I appreciate the invite, but couldn’t participate due to some travel last week. Glad you stopped by!
I want to wander off into the woods right along side you! Though we don’t have kids, I remember doing the same thing to my parents. Every holiday, every road trip, always with the drama.
Your cake is gorgeous and your babies are too precious for words.
Sending extra love your way.
XO
S
Sabrina, Can we do that please? I want you to visit! And thanks for the kind words –– they are precious, most of the time anyway.
This was just the recipe we needed to see. So making this with our apple picking haul.
Yes! Glad to hear it!
Elizabeth, I loved this post. It sounds like we are experiencing some of the same, ahem, challenges. Yeah, that’s a nice way to put it. But one has to carry on, as the saying goes. Life with young children can be a tremendous struggle – made all the more infuriating when you’re trying to have an idyllic autumn day apple picking, or in my case “the most perfect weekend in Aspen ever.” When the sh#t hits the fan, I take a deep breathe and reassure myself that this is just part of the deal and that it will get better. Sometimes I feel defeated, but I try again– and keep getting out there and taking my boys on adventures big and small. I think about what my life will look like in a decade from now, and even many decades from now, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll look back on these times and laugh…and know it was all worth it. Does that make sense? Anyway, the cake looks delicious. And those apple trees have me reminiscing about the days I spent apple picking in Upstate NY with my parents. I’m sure I threw tantrums too, I just don’t remember it 🙂 xo
First off, you can totally take me to Aspen for a perfect weekend –– I promise to behave! And yes, I *know* they’ll remember, not their own antics, but the experience. The worst for me is that I know I need to model the right way to deal with anger and frustration, but I’m not always the best at containing my own emotions. And by “not the best,” I mean I completely lose my temper sometimes. But, when I do, I try to let them know that I didn’t act the way I wanted, just like they weren’t their best either. Happily, it’s a wonder how forgiving us families are of each other.
So, I’ve only just discovered your blog, and this recipe. I had all the ingredients on hand and some free time, apples from a friend’s garden, buttermilk from a nearby farm… so I made it straight away. And it was fabulous! Wow. So moist, and not too sweet. I loved the lemon zest and nutmeg.
Hi Darya, I’m so glad you loved the cake as much as I did! And wow, I’m swooning over all those perfect ingredients! Sounds like you’ve got a great community! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe feedback; I really appreciate it!
So much great stuff here! A recipe I can’t wait to try, a link to a new cooking website, a lead on an apple orchard I can feel good about going to (likely without all the hullaballoo that steals the charm from others), and some straight honest mother talk. It’s rarely perfect. At least there’s apples. And that one glorious shot of the two girls, that one is a keeper.