Apple Walnut Cake

Hi all! It's been a quiet May around here and I hope to be posting a little more in June as I get into more of a routine.

Today I am making Apple Walnut Cake, a recipe that I found originally in the Glycemic Index Cookbook. This cookbook is actually one my mother picked up for me at a yard sale, and man, there are some gorgeous low GI recipes that actually look pretty do-able and don't have a million ingredients, AND look yummy.

This recipe was good - just enough sweetness to silence that sweet tooth, but not enough to leave you craving eating the rest of the pan. Does that make sense? Sometimes I feel "I can't get enough!" when something is ultra sweet and I want more... where this recipe is just enough. It's not ultra rich where you feel "bleckk" the rest of the night, either. Although, I highly recommend just a HINT of vanilla ice cream... :)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups chopped sliced Granny Smith apples (they said that's two large apples, it took me four.)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar substitute. (I mix my regular sugar with my Splenda-like sugar substitute, so I didn't use just straight up sugar substitute.
4 1/2 tablespoons of margarine or butter, melted. (I used margarine, next time I would use butter.)
3/4 cup fat-free/skim milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

You'll also want:
A large mixing bowl
An 8x8 glass pan
A large Pyrex type measuring cup. I used the 4 cup version.

First, preheat your oven to 350. Just a heads up - this recipe takes 50 minutes to cook, so don't make this recipe if you want "instant" results ;) While you're at it, spray a 8x8 glass pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, apple pie spice and salt in a bowl. Use a larger bowl, as you'll be mixing in this later.

Slice your apples and dump them in the prepared baking pan. Using the large Pyrex measuring cup, beat the brown sugar, the sugar sub, and melted margarine until well blended. My suggestion: once you've got the apples out of the measuring cup, melt the margarine in the measuring cup, then add the sugars. No sense in getting other dishes dirty!

Now, once the margarine and sugars are mixed, whisk in milk, eggs and vanilla, mix until smooth. Then, dump this mixture into your awaiting flour bowl from earlier. Stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture over the apples. Sprinkle the walnuts over the batter.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes when it comes out. Serve warm, and refrigerate leftovers.

Hope you enjoyed! This makes 9 servings and has 204 calories per serving, 23g of carbohydrates, 12g fat, 2g Saturated fat, 2 grams of fiber. Thanks for following along!