Had to say that I tryed this recipe today and it is very good! I used one cup of brown sugar and one cup of white sugar for the batter and used brown sugar in the topping. I was trying to use up some of the brown sugar I had. Also, instead of the heavy cream, I just used the skim milk I had on hand.....and it was still very good!!! A scoop of ice cream or a dollop of cool whip would be great with this too, but it really doesn't need anything extra.

A quarter cup sounded really large to me too - even if sage in cake is okay which sounds odd to me. The whole thing reminds me of a pumpkin gingerbread trifle my DIL tried last week. A lot of work and to me the end result had too many tastes fighting with each other. The plain gingerbread with a bit of whipped cream or lemon sauce was better. I think the whole idea of using my whip cream canister with hot contents and a triple charge sounds scary. The instructions that came with it certainly don't cover that kind of use (or abuse).

Yes, that's the kind of cake I made for my mom. I just love that cake! But I hardly ever make it. Between peeling all the apples, and then mine goes into a bundt pan, which I have to grease and flour, and then I have all this cake left over which doesn't keep and I struggle to finish. So I only get to make it on rare special occasions. But even for my mom's birthday we had so much left over she cut it up and froze it. It has been used now for two other parties at her house! It just doesn't make quite the splashy appearance cut up that a bundt or full cake would make at a party. Maybe we'll have to experiment with making this cake in a couple of loaf pans, which then could be individually wrapped and frozen. At least that would break it up a bit. I hate to "experiment" with a cake though, and risk wasting the time and all the ingredients. Maybe someone could chime in here who has converted full cake recipes to loaf pans. Maybe it will be fine, I just don't know because I have never done it. I know you can make cupcakes from a cake recipe, so it stands to reason that it would work. This post was edited by lpinkmountain on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 12:19

LindaC, you know how fudge gets when it "goes to sugar"? That's kind of how this turned out, and the topping is actually cooked, I thought that would dissolve it sufficiently, but I was mistaken. I'm afraid a longer cooking might just make it worse, and the directions specifically said boil for a minute without stirring, although I thought the small amount might scorch. It didn't, but it didn't dissolve either. Sally, this one is very good, nice and moist, Elery says it's more like quick bread in texture. It didn't really need glaze, although I am seriously considering a maple glaze next time. Wintercat, the texture is very nice, I'd make it again. Islay, break out the apples, this is a good recipe! CC, I mis-stated the name of the magazine, it's actually "Taste of the South". I can't find it on line either, so I'll just type it out, that way I can keep it too! Candied Apple-Pear Bundt Cake 3 cups sugar, divided 1/2 cup cane syrup 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbls butter, softened and divided 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced 2 Bosc pears, peeled and sliced 5 large eggs 3 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 cup sour cream 2 tsps. vanilla extract Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 15 cup bundt pan with baking spray with flour. Set aside. In a large skillet, bring 1 cup sugar and cane syrup to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves, approximately 2 minutes. Stir in 2 tbls butter until melted. Add apple and pear, stirring to combine. Reduce heat to medium, cook, stirring occasionally, until fruit softens, approximately 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. In a large bowl, beat remaining 1 1/2 cups butter with remaining 2 cups sugar at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat in vanilla until combined. Reserve 2/3 cup syrup from fruit mixture for Cane Syrup Glaze; set aside. Gently fold remaining syrup and fruit mixture into batter and spoon into prepared pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. Drizzle with Cane Syrup Glaze. Cane Syrup Glaze In a small bowl, stir together 2/3 cup reserved syrup, 2 cups confectioners sugar and 2 tbls whole buttermilk until smooth. Spoon over cake. Cindy, thanks for that very kind offer, but I'm going to Grand Rapids tomorrow and Wednesday, Bud is getting his tonsils taken out and a deviated septum fixed. He's got a neurologist appointment tomorrow. So, I'm kind of assuming they'll have some at Cost Plus/World Market, or one of the specialty groceries they have down there. If not, I'll try the internet. If it's legal, I think Amazon will have it, LOL. I'm definitely making this cake at some time, though, so I'm going to have to get my hands on some before apple season is over.... Annie