It is a Barnyard Bash on Foodie Friday!

     For quite a while now, Lynn @ Happier Than a Pig in Mud has been telling us about her Barnyard Bash party today. I like Lynn. She is always wonderful about visiting me and I wanted to play along and support her new event. I started looking around my house for barnyard animals and I realized that I am animal deprived. The one lonely barnyard animal in my house, is Piglet. Of course, every farm has a pond...and I have a fish, that works doesn't it?

     He is Mexican Pottery and he used to sit among the shells on the top of our old television cabinet. When we got the flat screen, he was retired. That's it for me. I do have a couple of roosters who made a recent appearance at their own event, but other than that...this is not a barnyard friendly home. It is however a food friendly home...so let's cook!

     I've been cooking with apples all week. I actually made two different apple cakes, one was average and one was really good. Of course, you get the recipe for the good one! This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe that I tweaked a little, but not much.

Ingredients:

Cake layer:

1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (I used a combination of light and dark brown sugar)
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups cored and chopped apples (I leave the peels on mine)

Crumble Topping:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown-the recipe called for light brown)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, softened

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (once again I used dark brown-light is fine)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water

Directions:

     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with Pam. In a large bowl, cream together one stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each, add the vanilla. In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

     To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and 4 T. butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

     To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm or cold.

I am joining Lynn @ Happier Than a Pig in Mud for Barnyard Bash

I'm also joining Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday