Gigi's Apple Cake

I also made an apple cake for the iron chef challenge. i used rachel ray's gigi's apple cake recipe with some tweaks and it turned out GREAT. Very moist and full of textures. A perfect fall time cake that’s very easy to make even if it has a long baking time

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1 cup canola oil, plus more for greasing 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 teaspoons baking powder 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 6 Granny Smith apples (about 1¼ pounds)-peeled, cored and thinly sliced 2¼ cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 1/3 cup orange juice 2 teaspoons pure orange extract -1 cup brown sugar -1/2 stick butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan. In a medium bowl, combine the 2½ cups of flour with the baking powder and 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon. In a large bowl, toss the apples with ¼ cup of the sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and set aside.

2. Whisk 1 cup of oil with the eggs, orange juice, orange extract and the remaining 2 cups of sugar for 1 minute. Add the flour in 3 batches, mixing until just combined. Add the apples and stir to combine. Transfer to the pan, leaving about an inch at the top, and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1½ hours. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before unmolding it onto a rack to cool completely.

3. Add brown sugar and butter to a sauce pot. Heat until boiling and let it boil for about a min til all the sugar is melted. Pour the hot caramel over top of the cake while it’s sitting on your serving plate/cakestand whatever.

4. when serving, place a slice of cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and spoon some caramel sauce on top! So warm and inviting and comforting and DELICIOUS in your mouth! you know you want a piece a dat cake!