On "Wol Nut" Cake and Follow-Through

I realized with some irony that today while I was battling one child on follow-through, I nearly lost an opportunity to facilitate another child's natural bent to follow-through.

That one little guy, Clayton, filled his pockets with Walnuts at Uncle Charlie's three days ago.
The next day he put them all into a zip lock bag, with a label on it that read "Clays Wol Nuts".
Yesterday he spent all afternoon sitting outside with a rock, cracking every nut and carefully removing the meats - many of them in perfect halves - and completely filled a coffee mug over the course of several hours.
As he cracked away, big plans were being laid for making some kind of "nut cake".

Hmmm... nut cake?

I wan't sure I was prepared to find a "nut cake" recipe, but Clayton's determination wasn't easily squelched, and by late this afternoon I straightened out my priorities (another little victory?).
I dived into Mother Hen's blog Homemade and Wholesome and found a recipe that appeared suitable.
Clay was ecstatic, and we commenced the making of Apple Nut Cake! We enjoyed our time together and made a few adjustments to the recipe - adjustments that would do certain friends proud! Surprisingly, it was a success.
















And most especially to see the shining face of my little guy as he placed before the family the last step in his carefully laid and well executed vision. Well done son!

Apple Nut Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°. Butter a bundt pan and sprinkle it with sugar and set it aside.

In your large bowl mix:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda

Set that aside and get your medium bowl and mix:

• 4 eggs
• 3 cups peeled, grated apple
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ cup vegetable oil

Now stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Don’t overblend. Pour it into the bundt pan and bake for about 50 minutes. Do the toothpick test. It’s ok for little bits of cake to adhere to the toothpick, as long as what sticks is not raw, gloppy batter.

Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes then turn it out onto a serving plate.

Our substitutions are as follows:

2 cups hard white wheat, freshly ground on the pastry setting.
1 cup Honey (instead of 2 cups sugar)
1 cup applesauce (instead of 2/3 cup oil) no raisins in ours.
I am very proud of these substitutions Jenny S. and I fully expect a very nice comment from you!!!
Clay wanted to serve with a dollop of whipped cream so that's what we did. Good idea too!