Great-Grandma Susie's Apple Cake

My friends...I canNOT believe I haven't shared this recipe with you yet! This is an old family favorite, from my great-grandmother. She was a humble woman, living in backwoods Alabama. What they ate they mostly raised themselves. They were frugal. They were gracious.

The story is that this apple cake could usually be found on Grandma Susie's sideboard, just waiting for a hungry child after school, or a friend who stopped by for a chat. (Because, down south, nobody stops by for a chat without having a bite to eat! My mother used to time her visits to "chat" for right after Great-Aunt Velma pulled her chicken n' biscuits out of the oven. Heh.)

Without further ado....

Great-Grandma Susie's Apple Cake
Makes 1 10-cup bundt cake

Ingredients:
3 cups unsifted flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. artificial lemon juice (or 1 Tbsp. real)
3-4 cups firm apples, chopped (3 large apples)

Grease a 10-cup bundt cake pan and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.

Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the apples.

Bake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. (Approximately 75 minutes for a bundt cake.)

This is a rather rich cake, so we usually serve it in small slices, with a dollop of whipped cream.