PARKERSBURG — Anna Dean of St. Marys is the grand prize winner of the 71st annual Cookbook Contest held by The Parkersburg News and Sentinel/The Marietta Times.

Dean received a $500 grand prize check for her homemade apple bundt cake which came in first in the Baked Goods Battle category.

“I love apples,” said Dean. “The biggest problem this year was trying to find the best apples.”

Dean’s dessert topped the winners in the other three categories; Food Truck Favorites, Family Heirlooms; and One Pot Wonders with a total of 12 recipes put to the test by a panel of judges.

She said she was surprised when she got a call from the paper saying that she had won the grand prize for the contest.

Out of the 78 recipes submitted for the contest, Dean’s apple bundt cake rose to the top.

“I started participating in the contest many, many years ago in the late ’70s,” said Dean. “I have a lot of cookbooks.”

Dean and her daughter, Tammy Morrison, who placed fifth in the contest for her pina colada bread pudding, spend their free time baking and creating recipes. Dean has over 2,000 cookbooks and has collected every cookbook from the Cookbook Contest over the years.

“We just have always enjoyed baking,” said Dean.

Dean described the process of making the cake with shredded apples and pecans with decadent layers of sweet cream cheese. Each layer of cake, fruit, and cream cheese filling is done with the precision and care of someone who has spent years in the kitchen making all kinds of recipes and delicious desserts.

Dean said once all the layers of the cake are intact, she pours a generous and delightful amount of warm, gooey caramel over the cake.

“The problem is wondering what the judges would like,” she said. “Some people might not like this or that and so I always ask myself what I will decide to enter in the contest.”

Out of Dean’s hundreds of recipes and creations, she decided on the apple bundt cake recipe because of its warm flavors and hints of fall-inspired spices.

“A lot of people don’t like apples, a lot of people don’t like raisins or nuts so it’s just trying to find that happy medium,” she said.

Dean said that she loves to bake more than anything else.

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Amish Apple Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (softened)

¼ cup sugar

1 large egg

Cake:

1 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 ½ cups sugar

3 large eggs (room temperature)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg or allspice

2 ¼ cups peeled and finely chopped tart apples

1 cup carrots (shredded)

½ cup chopped pecans (optional)

Caramel Glaze:

4 tablespoons butter (¼ cup)

½ cup brown sugar

3 tablespoon milk

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the oil, sugar, and eggs until well creamed. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix to combine.

Stir in the apples, carrots, and pecans. Grease and flour a 10″ bundt cake pan and spread half of the apple batter into the bottom of the pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top. Then spread the remaining half of the batter over the cream cheese layer.

Bake for 55 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs. Cool for 10 minutes, then place a large plate onto the top of the pan and flip it out. Cool and drizzle with the caramel glaze.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 – 7 days.

Caramel Glaze:

In a saucepan, bring the butter, brown sugar, and milk to a rolling boil. Cook and stir for about a minute. Remove from the heat and add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth, stir in the pecans, and immediately drizzle over the cooled cake. (If desired, you can leave out the pecans, or sprinkle them over top of the glaze instead.)