Attempting to Cook/Bake with Lolo #1 - Spiced Apple Cake with Orange Glaze!

Ahoy, mateys! Today on the blog, I decided to do something a bit different to see how it feels. While I was making one of our new favorite fall desserts the other day, I figured I'd just take some photos as I went along and try to make a post out of them! If you all like it, I could put other recipes together, too! Let me know if you like this, and please enjoy! :)
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Spiced Apple Cake with Orange Glaze 
(recipe from White Lights on Wednesday)

Cake ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk *
• 1 cup apple butter

Glaze ingredients: 

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

Most of the dry ingredients/the spice line up! Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. [my oven is a mess or else I'd take a picture of it].

Step 2: Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and spices to a medium-sized bowl, stir together, and set aside

Step 3: In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter and cream until smooth. [I used a hand mixer the first time I made this and my KitchenAid the second time. I think I prefer the hand mixer].

Step 4: Add eggs to butter/sugar mixture and mix until it is combined. [As Julie has mentioned, I read somewhere, too, that butter and eggs should be at room temperature before using for baking, and though the recipe doesn't say to do this, I always do it anyway].

Step 5: At this point, you want to add the flour mixture and buttermilk. Starting and ending on the flour mixture, add one then the other and alternate until it is all added, and BE SURE to JUST COMBINE after each addition! [I also forgot to do this once or twice, which might be why it had a different texture the second go-around]

Step 6: When you're done adding the above ingredients, stir in the apple butter. I don't recall the brand we used, but it is delicious stuff. Unfortunately, it's just shy of 1 full cup, but it doesn't seem to make a heck of a lot of different. It comes in a glass container and it pretty expensive, but worth it for this recipe.

Step 7: Bake for 55 minutes after pouring batter into a 9" x 5" loaf pan (bake for 30-35 minutes if you are using a smaller pan!). Poke a toothpick into the center of the cake to see if it is ready (it will come out clear if it is). [Be careful not to overfill your pan! The first time we made it is overflowed (!!!) and got onto the bottom of the oven and caused a nasty, smelly mess. You could always add a baking sheet on the rack under my loaf pan just in case (right???).] 

Step 8: While the cake is baking, make your glaze! Combine powdered sugar, orange zest and orange juice until smooth. Set aside, and right when your cake comes out of the oven, pour the glaze of the top of your cake and spread evenly! It will create a nice and sweet but not too crunch or cloying topping to your already delicious cake. Cool for 10 minutes and enjoy! It is good cold with some coffee for breakfast or warm by itself or with ice cream for dessert!

And there you have it, simple, right? Like I mentioned, we love this recipe! We hope you like it, too!