CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- As freshly picked apples fill the bins at farmers markets and grocery stores alike, I'm inspired to bake them into old-fashioned apple cakes. I'm partial to dense, not-too-sweet cakes studded with chunks of juicy apples.

My longtime favorite apple cake recipe is the happy result of an occasion I was not anticipating. Living the lean existence of a young bride in married-student housing while my husband was in graduate school, I reluctantly attended a party at which overpriced plasticware was featured and sold.

My spirits lifted when I tasted the apple Bundt cake a neighbor baked. The rich cake had a ribbon of apples, nuts and cinnamon through the middle.

Linda Duell gave me her recipe. It includes a stick of butter or margarine and a cup of sour cream, which raised my health-conscious hackles, but I ignored them and made it anyway.  Reduced-fat sour cream is a fine substitute.

 The cake became a fall favorite at family gatherings and birthday celebrations. I still bake it, using the recipe she wrote out on an index card for Apple Sour Cream Bundt Cake.  Linda and her family settled in Montana after graduate school. We lost touch, but the smell of her cake baking always brings her to mind.

I'd like to say the recipe outlasted the plastic I bought at the party, but I still have the lettuce keeper, too. I use it as a mixing bowl.

On a recent visit to interview Peggy Thompson in Poca about her Belgium pastry baking tradition, she shared a recipe for a sugar-free apple cake that was remarkably moist and delicious - qualities not always found in lightened baking recipes. It didn't really fit in last week's story about her buttery pastries, so I'll share it this week.

A recent issue of Southern Living Magazine features a praline-topped apple bread that really tempted me, but then praline-topped anything will cause me to look twice. The bread sounded similar to one reporter Bill Lynch bakes, without the praline icing.

Years ago, Bill was looking for a recipe for Red Velvet Cake. In the days before an Internet search for a Red Velvet Cake recipe would yield 531,000 results with a few keystrokes, Bill bought a book of Southern cake recipes that included Red Velvet Cake.

The book cost $12. At that price, Bill decided he'd better get his money's worth and tried the apple cake recipe as well. He's tweaked it through many subsequent bakings and offers his treasured recipe as well.

I've also included a recipe that appeared in the Gazette in 1998 for Dolly Sods Cake, an apple cake that includes cranberries and nuts. Linda Hammack, who developed the recipe, named it Dolly Sods Cake because cranberries grow in that unique wilderness area in Randolph and Upshur counties.

If you want to work an apple cake into your autumn repertoire, but just don't like to measure ingredients, Tastefully Simple has the cake mix for you. It's called Nana's Apple Cake and requires the addition of only apples, eggs and nuts. At the risk of offending serious bakers everywhere, I have to admit that I've attended several functions lately where Nana's Apple Cake was served and have found myself shamefacedly sneaking back for second servings. The mix is available online at www.tastefullysimple.com.

Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.

Apple Sour Cream Bundt Cake

            1/2            cup nuts, finely chopped

            1            teaspoon cinnamon

            1/2         cup brown sugar

            3            medium apples, peeled and sliced thinly

            1/2         cup butter or margarine, softened

            1            cup sugar

            1            cup sour cream

            2            eggs

            2            cups flour

            1            teaspoon baking powder

            1            teaspoon baking soda

            1            teaspoon vanilla

            1/4         teaspoon salt

COMBINE nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar.

BEAT sugar and butter or margarine until fluffy. Add sour cream, eggs, flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla and salt and beat well.

SPREAD half the batter in a greased and floured Bundt cake pan.

SPRINKLE with a third of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

LAYER apples on top of mixture.

SPRINKLE another third of the sugar and cinnamon mixture on top of apples.

SPREAD remaining batter evenly on top of apples and sugar mixture.

SPRINKLE with remaining sugar mixture.

BAKE at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until pick comes out clean when inserted in middle.

COOL for 10 to 15 minutes.

LOOSEN edges with knife.

PLACE cake plate on top of pan, and carefully invert, turning the cake onto the pan.

No-Sugar Applesauce Cake

            1            cup raisins

            1            cup diced dried fruit (optional)

            1            medium chopped Gala apple

            2            cups water

            2            cups flour

            1 1/2       teaspoons baking soda

            1/2            teaspoon salt

            1/2            teaspoon nutmeg

            1/2            teaspoon ground cloves

            1 1/2            teaspoon cinnamon

            2            eggs (or Eggbeaters equal to 2 eggs)

            1            cup unsweetened applesauce

            2            tablespoons liquid sweetener

            3/4            cup vegetable oil

            1            teaspoon vanilla

            1/2            cup chopped nuts

            1            cup whole English walnuts

COMBINE raisins, dried fruit, and apple with water in saucepan.  Cook until water is evaporated and dried fruit is soft. Set aside to cool.

COMBINE flour, soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

COMBINE in another bowl eggs, applesauce, sweetener, oil and vanilla. Add raisins and chopped nuts to this mixture.

STIR into dry ingredients until well blended. 

SPRINKLE whole English walnuts over the bottom of well-greased Bundt pan.

POUR batter into pan. 

BAKE at 350 degrees for 35  to 40 minutes.  For dark pans, bake at 325 degrees.

Cake keeps best stored in refrigerator.

Nutritional information: 125 calories, 60 mg. sodium, no cholesterol, 15 g carbs, 2 g protein, 7 g fat.

Apple Nut Cake

            1 1/4            cups oil

            2            cups sugar

            3            eggs

            3            cups flour

            1            teaspoon baking soda

            1            teaspoon salt

            1            teaspoon cinnamon

            2            teaspoons vanilla

            3            cups Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed

MIX oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

SIFT dry ingredients together.

ALTERNATELY add dry mixture and apples and nuts to sugar mixture.

MIX well after each addition.

POUR into greased 9-by-13 pan or Bundt pan.

BAKE in 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

Dolly Sods Cake

            2            cups coarsely chopped apples

            2            cups fresh whole cranberries

            2            cups sugar

            2            eggs

            1/2            cup vegetable oil

            1             or 2 tablespoons brandy or bourbon (or 2 teaspoons vanilla, but it won't be the same)

            2            cups sifted flour

            2            teaspoons baking soda

            4            teaspoons cinnamon

            1            teaspoon salt

            1            cup chopped black walnuts (no substitutions)

COMBINE apples, cranberries and sugar and let stand. Beat eggs slightly. Beat in oil and brandy.

MIX and sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

STIR flour mixture into liquid alternately with apple/cranberry/sugar mixture. Stir in black walnuts.

POUR batter into greased and floured tube or Bundt pan.

BAKE at 350 degrees for about one hour. Let stand until cool.

TURN out on rack to complete cooling.