German Raw Apple Cake

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I was going to make some Apple Cake.  I tried a recipe that I never tried before and I must say, this cake came out awesome!

Yes, I put sprinkles on everything! 

The recipe came from a cookbook that I bought many years ago when Scott and I were in Lancaster, PA.  It's called, Lancaster County Cookbook by Louise Stoltzfus and Jan Mast.  The copyright date is 1993:

Here's the recipe:

German Raw Apple Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
2 cups diced apples

Topping: 

1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1.  Sift together flour, salt and cinnamon.
2.  Cream together shortening, sugars and eggs.
3. Stir baking soda into sour milk.  Add milk and dry ingredients alternately to creamed mixture.  Fold in apples.  Spread into greased 9 inch X 13 inch baking pan.
4.  To prepare topping, combine all ingredients and sprinkle over cake batter.
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until done.

I didn't have cake flour so I used all purpose flour and I didn't have any nuts so I just did without them.  I made a simple glaze of powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla and drizzled it on the cake after it was cooled.  Then I added the sprinkles.

I don't know if this book is still available or not but every recipe I've tried from has been excellent!

Black and White and Red All Over

I did some sewing yesterday.  I assembled my last 2 purses and just have to do the hand finishing on them.  I also pieced up an new purse:

I found that beaded piece at a flea market last Summer.  It was cut off of a vintage dress.  I think I only paid $5.00 for it.  I'm attracted to anything that sparkles and even though I'm not huge on red, I had to have it.

Anyway, I pieced this up yesterday and will pull some lace and trim for it today.

And now that it's September (Scott and I have been married 24 years today) I am craving apples so I think I'll make some Apple Cake.

The Peacock Quilt

During my blogging break, I've been trying to clean out and rearrange cupboards and working in my yard which was done a long time ago due to the extreme heat and lack of rain back in July.  I have just about everything cut back and ready to try again come Spring.

It's been a tough Summer, losing my Simba in May and then my mom's Lakota in August.  But I have worked on some projects.  One of them is my Peacock quilt.  You may remember me posting about it quite awhile back:

I finally pulled it out and stitched on it:

Here are closeups of the side panels:

You can click on the photos to see larger versions of them.  Most of the seam treatments were worked from Volume 1 & Volume 2 of my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment books.  I will be working on putting Volume 3 together soon.

And here's a closeup of the embroidered peacock:

This was a pre-stamped design on black satin.  I stitched it back in the early 80's but never sewed it into anything.  I came across it a few years ago while rearranging my stash and thought it would make a nice focal point for a crazy quilt.  I added crystals to the eyes in the feathers for added sparkle.

I'll put this together soon and post an update when it's done.

Mom's Lakota

Mom's Lakota went to Rainbow Bridge yesterday:

Lakota 2002 - 2012

He was the sweetest, smartest, most wonderful dog.  I miss him terribly.

Blog Break

Taking a blog break ladies. I'll be back.