Cinnamon Apple Cake

My niece is the sweetest, most adorable little girl that you will ever meet.  I came over to my sister's house this afternoon and my niece attacked me out in the driveway.  She was so excited to see me and said that she had a HUGE surprise for me.   She brought me inside and gave me a foil wrapped package and said in her cutest 5 year old little girl voice that she wanted to make a cake for me because I make so many cakes for people but nobody ever makes a cake for me.  I know, don't cry too hard.

She definitely wins the favorite niece card (I the rest of them are boys so I can say that).

And that of course made my day.

She and my sister made it yesterday so she's been waiting to give it to me.  Here are the two bakers:

And it was goooooddddd. I had multiple pieces and I have a feeling that the rest will be gone tonight.

I think JB was pretty proud of her work:

After we finished eating we had a lot of fun playing around.  I may be a bad influence:

She didn't quite master the spoon on the nose thing the normal way but I think her way is better.

Anyway, here is the recipe from way back when if you're interested.  This one is on MyRecipes.com but it's pretty similar to my moms. It is fantastic:

Yield: 12 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large)
• Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; set aside.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, and beat at low speed until blended. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl; stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cake pulls away from the sides of pan. Cool cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.
5. Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the baking time by 5 minutes.