By day, I am a cartographer. I edit geographic data, perform analyses, design map layouts, and provide my coworkers with baked goods.
Every year, The National Geographic Society sponsors Geography Awareness Week. GIS Day is on the Wednesday that falls within Geography Awareness Week, which makes today GIS Day! GIS and geography lovers all over the world celebrate in different ways, from holding an open house to working with local schools to raise awareness about how GIS makes a difference in our world.
Serving a GIS cake is an important part of GIS Day all over the world. It’s also the best way for me to combine two of my passions: maps and cake!
I picked up some late season Arkansas Black apples for this cake. They have a sweet taste, which makes them perfect for cake. I used a cinnamon buttercream frosting for an extra touch of spice.
Old-Fashioned Apple Cake
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: One 9×13 cake
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
4 cups apples, peeled and chopped (about 1 pound of apples before peeling)
Preheat the oven to 325°.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in flour mixture. The batter will be extremely thick, like cookie dough. Add the apples and mix on low speed until the apples release some of their juice. Mix until the batter is a consistency between cookie dough and brownie batter.
Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan. Spread the batter evenly in the pan, and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the entire pan on a cooling rack and cool completely before removing cake from pan.
Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from Wilton
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water or milk
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon meringue powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
With a mixer, beat the butter, vanilla, and water on medium speed until well incorporated. Add confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and cinnamon. Beat until creamy and smooth.
Spread over cooled cake, and decorate as desired.
My GIS Day cake is decorated with one of the north arrow designs that we use frequently. It shows how three different types of geography (points, lines, and polygons) can be overlayed to create a map.
