Barbie's apple zen cake


Barbie's Apple Zen Cake
Fall is here overnight it seems and since moving into town, I lost all my apple trees.  Fortunately though, I have very generous neighbors with 2 trees, who needed some help using them all up.  Of course, I can’t leave a natural food item alone if I know it can be used for something.  If nothing else, to make enough to share the awesome with others…so,  I brought home 3 big boxes of apples and after apple butter, apple chutney, apple sauce, sliced apples, dried apples and baked apples…(whew) I still have a half box left. A friend of mine posted a recipie for apple cake that she has been using for 30 years.  It was a nice enough cake, but I can’t leave anything alone, so I decided to add a few things to make it my own, most especially some wild chamomile I had picked this summer and made the..
Barbie’s Apple Zen Cake
2 cups chopped fresh apples
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tsp soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice 
1/3 cup whole chamomile blossoms (then grind them up fine) OR rip open several chamomile tea bags to equal 1/4 cup. 
Mix all ingredients together.  You will have a very dry mix.  Your cake will be heavy, like coffee cake.  Just mix together as thoroughly as possible and put in a sprayed 8 x 8 pan at 350 degrees until toothpick clean.  
When it is done, you can eat it as is, or I took a very small amount of Smucker’s caramel topping, poked holes all over the cake and drizzled the caramel over the top.  
Another variation would be to omit the cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, and add bee balm instead of chamomile (prepare it the same).  Bee balm pairs very well with apple, also has a soothing effect on the mind.  It is good for the digestion, headaches, colds, and the treatment of dropsy.  Very soothing, flavorful and aromatic.  I would make a light and sweet frosting-type drizzle for over the bee balm version of the cake.  
Have fun trying these out and enjoy!
Note:  My friend’s name is Barbara, and she is so talented.  She makes meditation pillows out of this yummy, YUMMY fabric and her husband makes handmade dishware and mugs that look too cozy to pass up (There is really no other word for a good mug that you can wrap your hands around than “cozy.” Trust me here kids, CO-ZY!).  She is who my cake is named for.  Please take a minute and go check out her awesome Etsy site to see what she has going on!

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