GERMAN APPLE CAKE

Yesterday Fort Leavenworth recognized the work of the "staff" in the tax office. I missed the ceremony last year, but not this year. I will share some of the pictures I took later in this post.

My husband wasn't sure if they were having a reception or not, but I decided to get up early and make this German Apple Cake to take. I knew they would enjoy it in the office anyway. (They did have a very nice reception with cake and punch and a couple of other treats that I will be sharing the recipe with you soon. They were really, really good.) My cake was very well received also.

It took me a little longer to prepare the cake because I took extra time to thinly slice the apples. I'm glad I did. It would be hard to eat the cake if the slices weren't thin. It was such a pretty cake. I almost didn't want to frost it, but everyone likes a cream cheese frosting.

GERMAN APPLE CAKE

2         large eggs
1          cup oil
1-1/2   cup sugar
1          teaspoon vanilla
2         cups flour
2         teaspoons cinnamon
1          teaspoon salt
1          teaspoon baking soda
4         cups thinly sliced apples

8        oz pkg cream cheese (I only used 6 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
3        tablespoons butter or margarine
1         teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2   cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. (I used my homemade Pan Grease.)

Add oil to eggs and beat until foamy.

Add sugar and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda together in small bowl.

Add mixture to egg/sugar mixture. Mix together scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Batter will be thick.

Fold in apples. There will be more apples slices than batter.

Spread in pan.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.








To prepare the cream cheese frosting,

Beat the softened cream cheese (1/3 fat doesn't need to be softened) and margarine til smooth.

Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat til smooth.

Frost top of cake. 

If you prepare the frosting and are not ready to frost the cake, just store frosting covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. If the frosting is too thick to spread, add a little milk.

The ceremony was quite impressive. It was held in the court room with the Garrison Commander, Col. Tim Wulf, presiding. He was very appreciative of the "staff" and their work. I didn't write it down, but I think he said 1800 returns had been filed saving the service men and women almost $500,000 in filing fees. I do remember that he said the returns totaled between 3.2 and 3.4 million dollars. (He had seen two different numbers.) 

Getting instructions

  

Ready and waiting

Col Wulf, Garrison Commander

The paid "staff"

"Boss" Amanda receiving a special award

The "volunteer" staff

Military personnel

My husband being recognized