I lost my last post, but this is the one I want to put up! The first time I made this, I used 5 medium Granny Smiths, and followed the recipe exactly. I did use my own boiled cider - more about that in a moment! The second time, I used 4 medium Gala apples, and put them under the batter. I used my Progressive International Apple machine (which boast two rods, one that produces 1/4 in slices, and one that produces 1/8 in slices) with the 1/8 in rod, then cut the slices in halves. I prefer my apples 'done' and have found that simply slicing them thin helps them cook faster and more evenly. I also cut down the brown sugar in the filling to 1 Tb, as Galas are quite a bit sweeter than Grannies. This cake was much more to my liking. I make my own boiled cider by taking a gallon of good quality apple cider (it can be from concentrate, but no preservatives such as sodium bezoate. Guess who returned a gallon because she didn't think to read the label???) and pouring it into a large pot. I bring the cider to a rolling boil, then turn it down to a fairly high simmer. I stir occasionally and note the rate of reduction. Once it gets down to a 6th or 7th of its original volume, it's done! This can take a long time, but is well worth the effort, and it makes the house smell wonderful. Thanks for this awesome recipe, PJ! I will be making the Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting later today, though I may have to leave off the frosting. My poor husband is complaining of sugar overload! Thanks for the feedback - I found your original post (just hadn't been approved yet), so will delete and keep this one. I just recently made my own boiled cider. 1 gallon boiled for 6 hours to make 1 pint. A bit tricky at the end; it was hard to know just how much to boil it, and I let it go a tad too long and it was a bit charred tasting, and too thick. But tasty nonetheless- PJH

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