Ingredients

serves 16-20

　　

Cake

2 cups sugar

　　3 eggs

　　1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

　　1/4 cup orange juice

　　3 cups all-purpose flour

　　1 teaspoon baking soda

　　1/4 teaspoon salt

　　1 tablespoon cinnamon

　　1 tablespoon vanilla extract

　　3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples

　　1 cup shredded coconut

　　1 cup chopped pecans

　　

Sauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

　　1 cup sugar

　　1/2 cup buttermilk

　　1/2 teaspoon baking soda

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a tube pan. For the cake, combine all the cake ingredients in a large bowl in the order given and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1/2 hours.

　　

Step 2

Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. Let stand 1 hour, then turn out.

　　The Lady & Sons, Too! by Paula Deen. © 2001 by Paula H. Deen. Published by Random House. All Rights Reserved.Paula H. Deen was born and raised in Albany, Georgia. She later moved to Savannah, where she and her two sons, Bobby and Jamie, started the Bag Lady catering company. The business took off and evolved into The Lady & Sons Restaurant, which is located in Savannah’s historic district and specializes in Southern cooking. Paula is the host of Food Network’s Paula’s Home Cooking and is a regular guest on QVC, where her cookbooks are one of the newtowrk’s biggest sellers.