This apple cake may be one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. I am not exaggerating.

I made it last weekend after I got back from New Orleans. I’ve been eyeing the recipe for months, maybe even years, but for some reason, I never got around to it. When I saw an abundance of apples from the farmers’ market in my fridge, I realized the time is now.

This cake is pretty easy to make, but there is some prep work involved. Namely, the bundt pan. Is your worst nightmare making a cake that sticks to the pan, so you have to try to carve it out with a butter knife or hammer on the bottom with a spoon? Trust me, I’ve been there.

For this cake, make sure to butter AND flour the pan generously so it doesn’t stick. I like to prepare the pan over the sink so flour doesn’t fly all over the kitchen. If you tap the edges as you rotate the pan, you can ensure the best butter/flour: pan ratio.

If you’re not a fan of red raisins, you can sub in golden raisins. I’d highly recommend keeping the walnuts in the cake, though. They are dense and buttery, and they bake well into the cake.

I served the cake for dinner last weekend as a pre-birthday celebration for my boyfriend, Jim. After he ate a slice, I asked him what his favorite cake of all time was. He said that the apple cake I made might be it. He is an honest critic of my baked goods, so I took it as a high compliment.

Then, I gave pieces to my whole family, and to Jim’s mom when she came in town. Everyone talked about how the cake was not too light or dense. My mom told me twice how much she liked it.

If you need a good apple cake for fall or Rosh Hashanah, this is it. I bet it would also pair well with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.

Here’s a song to get you started on your apple cake journey. It’s also good to drown out your next door neighbors when they start sounding like frat boys on a Sunday.

Apple Cake

Ingredients

unsalted butter for greasing pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups peeled, cored, and thickly sliced tart apples
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and butter a bundt pan. Combine the vegetable oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix on medium for about five minutes. In the meantime, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.

When the oil and sugar are done mixing, add the eggs. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is creamy. Stir in the flour mixture. Then, stir in the vanilla extract, sliced apples, walnuts, and raisins. Don’t worry if the apples fall apart a little in this stage. Make sure the batter is uniformly mixed.

Put the batter in the prepared bundt pan and bake the cake for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan before inverting the pan or lifting the cake out. I’d recommend inverting it onto a plate. Enjoy!