Oat Pretzel Apple Cake

Sometimes, the best recipes are the ones you make up right on the spot. For example, I woke up with a great apple cake crave. But I didn`t want just an  apple cake... I wanted something moist, with a tender crumb and crispy texture, not overly sweet or hard to digest because of the high fat&sugar ratio. So this is what I came up with...

It tastes sooo...I think I`m going to bake another batch, just to be sure I have enough. No, I`m kidding. Easy with it. Breathe in, breathe out. Shake the cake off your mind, Corina...concentrate on something else. *eats another 3 servings*

Seriously now, I couldn`t help myself and quickly whipped up some caramel syrup to make it even tastier. That`s quite impossible, as it is already scrumptious! 

As I said...very moist.

Ok, so maybe you are wondering what those things are. Yeah, those, on the cake, buddy. It looks like I tossed together some of my favorite snacks/breakfast: pretzels, walnuts, oats. So, if you actually don`t care about the pretzels, this cake is somewhat healthy.

In order to get a moist (I think I used this word too many times) result, you need to add either sour cream or oil. But not this time. The only fat I added was 3 Tablespoons of sunflower oil in the batter and some butter to grease the pan. 

How I got my cake so moist and not so health/diet damaging? Yogurt, my friend.

To be more precise, homemade yogurt(yeah, I make mine at home, it`s much safer). I'm trying to go easy with the sugar in my blood(a bit too high for my young age) and used plain yogurt.But vanilla, blueberry(if you don`t mind the color...), raspberry, coconut would work well too.

Needless to say it became a family favorite. We served it with ice cream after lunch, but these pictures were taken right before I took it out of the oven. I just couldn`t help but have a slice for myself. ;)

So, apart from my boring introductions, there are 2 actual reasons I made this cake:

1. I got a "secret" recipe for Mars Brownies. I heard people saying it is delicious. Like, out of this world or something. To be honest, it was a bit too dry for my taste. I followed the recipe perfectly, baked it as carefully as I could. I got a fudgy brownie, of course, but it was not moist and sticky, like I prefer my brownies to be. However, I offered it to my mom to taste and she said the same: dry texture. The recipe called for 300 gr. of flour and instantly I thought "Whoa,dude, this is more like a chocolate bread!", but I used the exact amount of flour the recipe called for. I regret the fact that I didn`t play around with the recipe as I usually do. But, hey, after a baking failure I baked the best apple cake I had in my life. Here`s a picture of the Mars Brownie:
   
2. The second reason was my crave for apple cake. 

Well, I learned something from this unpleasant brownie experience...always play around with the recipe of you are in doubt. Adjust the sugar, flour, eggs etc. to suit your taste and preference.

Not that I am supposed to bake cakes these days, because I have a difficult Latin and History test waiting for me this week. Not to mention the one in Literature. School...makes me feel guilty for baking instead of studying.

You know what? I don`t regret making this cake. It`s a one-bowl recipe. Mix and bake, that`s all!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and maybe you will adore this cake as much as we do.

Ingredients:

500 gr. apples (Granny Smith, Macintosh, Golden Delicious...you choose)

230 gr. yogurt (plain, vanilla, blueberry, lemon or any type you like)

210 gr. brown sugar

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil (canola, sunflower, peanut, but NOT olive oil)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

180 gr. flour

TOPPING:

70 gr. crushed pretzels (salted or unsalted)

50 gr. roughly chopped walnuts

40 gr. rolled oats

Directions:

1. Grease and flour or line with parchment paper a rectangle 9X13 cake pan...or, bake it in whatever you want. Preheat your oven at 375 d F/180 d. C.

2.Peel, core and grate the apples. Put them in a bowl and coat them in a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown too quickly. Set aside.

3.In a large bowl, combine the yogurt and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Beat eggs in, followed by oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and apples. 

Pour the cake batter into the pan.

4. Toss the pretzels, walnuts and oats together. Sprinkle them evenly on the cake.

5.Bake for about 20-25 (or more) minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, with no wet batter on it. NOTE* If you see a few moist crumbs on the toothpick, you can take the cake out. Leave it to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, slice and serve.