Storms held off just long enough for a successful opening day of the Uptown Market—graciously, the hail and tornado waited until later in the afternoon. On the cloudy Saturday morning, I arrived a little later than planned, but plenty of produce and goods were still available. I didn’t plan to buy specific items, just whatever looked good.  

Piles of colorful fruits stood out immediately, so I decided to get just one or two apples. The woman selling the fruit convinced me otherwise. “They’ll stay fresh in the fridge for over a month,” she told me, when I asked if I could separate single pieces of fruit out of the bunch. I didn’t need much convincing, so I ended up with a basket of apples, plus a zucchini, onion, two bell peppers and a voucher for a free yoga class (thanks, YogaSix.)

After spending $12 on the produce, I was curious how the price compared to a local large-bird-themed grocery chain. I added the same items to my mobile app’s shopping cart and, unsurprisingly, the cost was almost double at $19.54. I left the market happy for supporting local farmers and happy for my checking account. 

At home, I thought about what to make after my tiny shopping trip. The vegetables would probably be good in a stir-fry or maybe pan roasted with a protein. But I was in a baking mood, so I started Googling apple desserts and settled on an apple cake recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I’ve never been disappointed with her recipes before and—spoiler—this cake exceeded expectations, per usual.  

I modified the recipe slightly, just because I didn’t have a few of the ingredients on hand. My version is written below, but you should probably just follow Sally’s expert instructions instead. (Sidenote: I had a piece of the cake before writing this and thought it could use more apples next time. Then, I saw I misread the ingredients when I made it, using two cups of fruit instead of three. My bad.) 

Hope you enjoy the apple cake as much as I did, whether you’re making it on a stormy spring afternoon, or a crisp autumn morning. And thank you to the farmer’s market vendor who convinced me to buy more apples than I needed.

Apple Cake Recipe 

Ingredients 

2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled) 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon EACH ground ginger & allspice 

1 cup vegetable oil 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1 cup unsweetened applesauce 

4 large eggs, at room temperature (mine were cold, because I’m impatient) 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

2 tablespoons milk 

3 cups peeled chopped apples (1/2-inch chunks) 

Dusting of powdered sugar (at the end)

Steps 

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line cake pan with parchment paper. I used a 9×9-inch pan.  

Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, eggs, vanilla extract and milk together in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Fold in the chopped apples until combined.

Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 75-ish minutes. Baking times vary (a lot, in my case.) Around the 30-minute mark, loosely tent with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. 

Top with a dusting of powdered sugar before serving.