Maple Apple Pound Cake

Here at Pome on the Range, we like to find recipes that use as many apples as possible. In some recipes, the apple are the stars. In others, apples play the ever-important background role, subtly supporting flavors and adding texture. This pound cake is one of the latter recipes.

Pound cake came from an incredibly simple recipe with only four ingredients: flour, butter, sugar and eggs. Originally this cake was used with a pound of each ingredient, which is where the name originated. Today, most pound cakes maintain the 1:1:1:1 ratio, just with less of each ingredient.

When you mix these four ever-important ingredients together, you're pretty much guaranteed to create a fantastic dessert. Adding in other ingredients only enhances the perfection of the pound cake.

This recipe doesn't quite use perfect ratios, mostly because of the addition of the maple syrup and a few other add-ins that only serve to add extra flavors and keep the texture of the cake moist.

Look no further than this simple recipe for cinnamon, maple, and apple deliciousness.

To make you'll need:

• 1 c. butter (2 sticks)

• 1/2 c. sugar

• 1/2 c. maple syrup

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 c. plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

• 1 tsp. almond extract

• 1 1/2 c. flour

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 apple, thinly sliced

• cinnamon/sugar to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a loaf pan. For best results, use wax paper on the bottom of your loaf pan, greasing after you place it in the pan.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in the maple syrup and mix until the butter is light in color and the sugar is no longer grainy.

3. Mix eggs in one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each one before adding the next. Mix in the almond extract.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.

5. Working in batches, add your dry ingredients to your wet, mixing the dry ingredients fully before adding more.

6. Arrange your sliced apple on the bottom of the pan, fanning the pieces out to create a row of apple slices.

7. Pour your batter on top of the apple slices, then smooth the batter to distribute evenly.

8. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over the top of the cake.

9. Bake for one hour, or until an inserted fork comes out clean.

10. When finished, let the bread sit in the pan for ten minutes. Afterward, run a butter knife around the edges of the bread to separate the sides from the pan.

11. Flip the loaf onto a cooling rack and let cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

When you add apples to a recipe, they only enhance it. Whether the star or a supporting role, you'll never be disappointed in the addition! Stop by our market for delicious, flavorful apples to use in this recipe!

(Information from littledessertshop.co.uk. Recipe adapted from the blog "North Shore to South Bay.")