Easy-as-Pie Apple Cake

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9” fluted tart pan with removable bottom, or a 9” cake pan with 1” sides that you've lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the egg and mix until smooth.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Don’t fret – it is a thick batter!
5. Add the apples and nuts and mix until incorporated. Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake for 40 – 45 minutes until skewer comes out clean and top is a nice golden color.
6. If using the tart pan, nudge the cake out carefully, while cake is still a tiny bit warm. If using a cake pan, let cool slightly, run a thin knife around edge of pan and turn out onto a dish and invert onto a cake plate so the crispy top of the cake is up.
7. Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream, a dollop of crème fraiche or a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.
8. Cook’s tip #1: Here’s how I dice my apples. Quarter, core and peel some apples. Place each piece flat-side-down and make a few long cuts down, but not all the way through one end of the apple quarter. It’s similar to the method of dicing onions, keeping the onion intact at the root end. Turn your apple quarter to the other flat side and make a few long cuts again. Now rotate your apple piece sideways and dice. For me, this is much easier and quicker than stacking unwieldy slices. But you dice or chop your apple any way you like; it’s your apple, and it'll taste great any which way.
9. Cook’s tip #2: Sometimes, when I'm lazy, which is most of the time, I’ve used my handheld hinged citrus juicer as a nut chopper/crusher. It works pretty darn well.