TEDDIE'S APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan. Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.
• 2. Beat the oil and sugar together in a mixer with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer) for 5 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until the mixture is creamy. Stir in the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, apples, walnuts, and raisins and stir until combined.
• 3. Turn the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before turning out.
• 4. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
• Cooking notes:
• If mixing the batter in a mixer, use a paddle attachment and turn the speed to low once you add the flour mixture, or the texture of the cake will be tough. Even better, mix the rest by hand.
• The recipe called for Red Delicious or McIntosh apples, but I'd recommend a variety that's brighter in flavor and firmer in texture, such as a Honeycrisp, Macoun, or Granny Smith.
• The apple slices can be halved if you want a more uniform texture.
• This cake can be eaten at any time of day, including breakfast. If you serve it for dessert, the recipe suggested a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. I prefer to whip 1/2 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks, then fold in crème fraîche to taste.
• Readers:
• "I most recently baked this cake for Thanksgiving 2004. There was a small piece left over and several days later (it keeps beautifully), I wrapped it in aluminum foil and took it to NYC for my son and daughter-in-law. He took it from me and started looking around his kitchen. When I questioned him, he said he had to hide it from his wife."
• Rochelle Rogers-Lippin, Huntington, NY, letter
• SEPTEMBER 30, 1973: "JUST DESSERTS," BY JEAN HEWITT. RECIPE BY TEDDIE. -1973