This summer was a blur. It left me buried under a pile of CSA vegetables and farmer's market offerings. As much as I loved my CSA, I found myself overwhelmed with prepping, pickling and preserving the season's bounty.
And before I knew it, it was all over. Summer had gone and fall had arrived.
Growing up in New England, apple cider was a given at our family Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. My grandmother would prepare the dinner and my grandfather was in charge of filling everyone's glasses. Besides washing the dishes, the cider was his only real responsibility and he was so enthusiastic about it!
When they got older and my grandmother could no longer host, my grandparents would come to my mom's house, my grandfather carrying a cooler that surely contained cider.
Now that they're gone, I think of them both every fall when I enjoy my first glass of apple cider. And you'll never find my Thanksgiving table lacking apple cider!
The cider flavor in this cake is not overly pronounced but the spices give a heavenly fall flavor!
Apple Cider Pound Cake
Source: Taste of Home
3 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan (I used a 9 1/2 inch bundt pan and had some batter left over. Two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans should also work just fine.) and set aside.
In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer), cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside. Combine cider and vanilla. Alternate additions of the dry ingredients and the cider mixture to the batter. Mix until well blended.
Spoon into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes (mine took longer) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then invert pan onto a cooling rack.
Combine icing ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drizzle icing over the cake while it is still warm.
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