chocolate chip apple cake.



I am out of town in Los Angeles right now which means that Alice and I are quite far apart for the week, resulting in less posts from my end since she is my personal food photographer. I will still be baking a bit while I am down here (I find it rather impossible to ever take a break from it), and if I can take some decent pictures, I will make sure to fill you all in.

The above cake was the result of two things that occurred one day last week. Firstly, I woke up with an intense chocolate craving, the kind that couldn't be ignored. I knew that I had to bake something with a strong chocolate flavor. Secondly, Alice mentioned that she wanted to photograph something Autumn-inspired. The result? A chocolate chip apple cake made with cocoa for an extra chocolatey kick. It is not a combination of flavors that one would usually think of mixing together, but they worked together wonderfully. The warm apples and warm chocolate chips melded together and created what I think to be ultra deliciousness.





Apple Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups apples - peeled, cored and finely diced
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour one 9 or 10 inch tube/bundt pan.

In a large bowl cream the butter or margarine with the sugar. Beat in the eggs then add the water and the vanilla.

Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg together. Beat this mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in the chopped apples and the semisweet chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake tests done when a toothpick is inserted near the center. Transfer to a rack to cool.

*Note: I topped this with a very basic brown sugar glaze made just by combining 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter, and 1/4 cup of milk in a small saucepan and boiling it for about 2 minutes. Just pour it over your warm cake and enjoy.

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