Here’s another treasure from my mom’s collection of recipes. According to her notes, it was her dad’s favorite and came from his mother. If Mom was still around I would have some questions to ask, as her recipe leaves out nearly all instructions:

That’s how it was years ago. Folks grew up in the kitchen and knew how to cook and bake. And sew. And garden. And so many other things. They didn’t need all the details written out.

But we do. So here’s my version of her recipe, with a few tweaks. My attempts kept sinking in the middle, so I decreased the baking soda and tossed the diced apples in a flour/spice mixture, to help with their extra moisture. I suspect Mom’s looking down on me with a grin on her face and a slight chuckle at how I did it. Even if I didn’t recreate it exactly, I’ll have to say the results are DELICIOUS. This one is a keeper!

Mom Rigney’s Apple Cake

Grease and flour a 9 X 13 metal or glass pan. Turn oven to 350 degrees.

Dice enough peeled cooking apples to make 3 cups. Mix 1/4 cup flour with 1 teaspoon apple pie spice. Coat diced apples in flour mixture and set aside.

Measure out 1 cup of chopped pecans. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat together until creamy:

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

Beat in

1 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

Add the dry ingredients to the egg/sugar/oil mix. Stir in:

3 cups diced apples from earlier

2/3 cup of the pecans

Batter will be thick. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining pecans on top

Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. While this recipe will “sink” slightly as it cools, it will sink much more if you don’t bake it completely.

Caramel Frosting

In a large enough glass container, like a quart measuring glass, heat on high for one minute:

1 stick of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

Stir well and add

2 tablespoons of milk or cream

Cook for 2 minutes, stirring after one minute. Let cool slightly and spread on cake. Frosting will “crust” as it cools.