Cinnamon-Apple Cake

I am always in the search of a really good apple cake. I have tried many. Some of them were total failure, some of them were ok and some of them were good. This cake falls into the last case. It is a good, tasty apple cake. But, it is not the cake that will take you off. If you believe you have the recipe of such cake, I will be more than happy to try it. Anyway, back to this cake, I am pretty sure you have noticed these two little frogs ready to jump on the top of the apple cake. They are fake of course and represent my son's artistic touch to my picture. I must admit I was reluctant in the beginning, but eventually he persuaded me with his irresistable winning that I had to put those in the picture. Anyway, the cake was good and that is the reason why I am giving you the recipe. In case anyone else has a success apple cake just let me know. The recipe is from myrecipes.com.

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

180 gr. fat-free cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups chopped apples (about 2 large)

Preheat oven to 175C.

Beat 1 1/2 sugar, margarine, vanilla and cream cheese at medium speed about 4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine sugar and cinnamon up to 1/4 of a cup. Combine 2 tbsp of the cinnamon mixture with the apples and throw them to the batter. Pour batter into a 20 to 24cm pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture on top.

Bake at 175C until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan about 45 to 1 hour depending on the oven. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack.