Chocolate Hazelnut Apple Cake

In an effort to use a bowl of apples that were no longer crisp, I began searching for a apple cake recipe to use them.   I came across an Old-Fashioned Chocolate Apple Cake recipe posted by Cleverly Simple.  The recipe includes sweet spices and recommends adding adding a cup of nuts.   I chose to leave out the spices and use coarse hazelnut flour rather than the tradition option of chopped walnuts.   Happily a few friends stopped by to surprise me that afternoon.  Luckily I was able to share this cake with them when the came over.  They were surprised at the rich moist flavor of the cake without it being overwhelmingly decadent. 

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs

3/4 cups oil

3 cups shredded apples

1 cup coarse hazelnut flour

I began by peeling my apples and chopping them up using my Cuisinart.   I divided up the dry and wet ingredients adding them into two separate bowls.   In the left photo, you see the chopped apples, eggs and oils.  In the photo on the right, you see the flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder.  I then combined them both together in the larger bowl and poured the batter into a greased baking dish.

I baked the cake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.