I’ve made this cake three times in less than a week. It’s that good — moist, sweet and spicy. Whole-wheat flour adds texture, and the walnut topping provides crunch.

The first two times I made the recipe, I used a 9-by-13-inch pan. I branched out this weekend and made cupcakes, which were good too. (And portable — my son took most of the batch over to a friend’s house when they got together to watch football.)

The recipe calls for 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole-wheat. I used 2 cups of white whole-wheat flour, which provides a bit more fiber. Next time I make the cake, I may substitute a pear or two for some of the apples.

Crunch-Topped Apple-Spice Cake or Cupcakes
Yield: 15 slices cake or 18 to 20 cupcakes

1/3 cup boiling water
2 medium or 3 small unpeeled cooking apples, chopped (2 cups)
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour (see tester’s note)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/3 cup finely chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour, or line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In large bowl, pour boiling water over apples. Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, flours, oil, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, salt and eggs. Beat with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Increase speed to medium; beat for 2 minutes, scraping bowl as needed. Pour batter into pan or cupcake liners.

In small bowl, mix remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and nuts. Sprinkle over batter.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes for cake or about 25 minutes for cupcakes. Let cool completely, about 1 hour for cake.

Tester’s note: Instead of a mixture of all-purpose and regular whole-wheat flour, I used 2 cups of white whole-wheat flour.

Per serving cake: 230 calories; 8g fat; 1g sat. fat; 40mg cholesterol; 140mg sodium; 35g carbs; 2g fiber; 21g sugar; 4g protein. (Each cupcake, with a yield of 20, has 3/4 the nutrients in a slice of cake: 172 calories and 6g fat, for example.)

Adapted from Betty Crocker Whole Grains (Wiley, $19.95).