Apple Walnut Cake

Apple Walnut Cake is a wonderful fall treat. Rich and fruity, it’s topped with caramel sauce after baking. Delightful! And perfect for crisp autumn days.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KitchenAid. All opinions and text are mine.

Every chance she gets, my daughter Paige, 7, asks to go to the skating rink. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, or what day of the week, or if they are even open … she just wants to go. All the time. And a simple ‘no,’ isn’t enough to convince her to stop asking.

Trust me.

But there’s beauty in her tenacity. A year ago, the skating rink wasn’t even on our radar yet. We ended up going because Paige was invited to a birthday party there last year. Both kids ending up roller skating, and they wanted to love it. But their legs, feet and minds couldn’t seem to get in sync.

Still, they wanted to love it so much that they asked to go again. And again. And eventually, they figured it out, finding a way to enjoy it. Both Will, who’s 10, and Paige prefer rollerblading, and love zipping around the rink.

I love that this is something they weren’t good at in the beginning, but chose to keep doing anyway. It’s something they wanted to learn, and wanted to enjoy. That makes it so special.

For me, cooking was like that. There was a time when I wasn’t good at it. In college, everything I made seemed to taste the same. And post-college, I quickly learned that wanting to cook well was about more than just finding a recipe. You have to build skills, and learn flavors. But I kept trying, experimenting and practicing. Eventually, my skills improved and I began sharing the recipes I created on Sarah’s Cucina Bella.

That was a decade ago, and I still love getting in the kitchen. Most days.

It was also a decade ago that I began making apple cakes to use some of the dozens of apples we’d pick each fall. Back then, the cakes were stuffed with sliced apples and a bit more dense than the ones I make now. But that’s part of continuing to work at my craft of cooking. I’ve discovered that I prefer the results of this cake recipe when I use shredded apples, and an additional egg.

My KitchenAid Food Processor is a huge time-saving help with shredding apples. And while you can certainly shred them by hand, the food processor makes quick work of shredding them into uniform pieces that can be mixed into the batter and used.

And really, those shredded apples are the secret ingredient here in this Apple Walnut Cake. The small pieces almost melt into the cake, entwining with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and creating a tender cake that’s delicious served with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Apple season is swiftly approaching here in Maine, and is already underway elsewhere. Low in calories, and filled with good amounts of dietary fiber and vitamin C, apples are good for you. And in this cake, they are good for your tastebuds.

How do you like to enjoy your apples?

If you have a favorite recipe, you’ll want to know this:

Food Network and Food.com have a special contest going on right now with KitchenAid. Passionate cooks are invited to share their best apple recipe for a cooking challenge — you’ll need to submit a photo and description to enter. Submissions can be uploaded through Twitter or Instagram, FoodNetwork.com/applechallenge or food.com/applechallenge. The top 4 submissions will be selected by Food Network Kitchens, and will win a trip for two to New York City to compete in a live cook-off judged by Food Network Chef Geoffrey Zakarian.

And the winner of it all? They will receive the grand prize of a suite of KitchenAid Black Stainless Steel Appliances and a private cooking lesson with Geoffrey Zakarian. Pretty sweet, right? The contest runs now through Sept. 14. Check out the contest website for more details.

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From the first-ever black stainless steel to the first-ever five-door refrigerator, KitchenAid pushes the limits with our appliances, so our home cooks can do the same with their cooking. See the revolutionary new line of KitchenAid appliances or visit the Kitchenthusiast™ blog for recipes, tips and more.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KitchenAid. The opinions and text are all mine.

From the first-ever black stainless steel to the first-ever five-door refrigerator, KitchenAid pushes the limits with our appliances, so our home cooks can do the same with their cooking. See the revolutionary new line of KitchenAid appliances or visit the Kitchenthusiast™ blog for recipes, tips and more.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KitchenAid. The opinions and text are all mine.