Apple Bread

For the bread:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons sour milk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chopped apples
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  For the topping:
  
• 2 tablespoons margarine, softened
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon burnt sugar flavoring

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar, margarine, and butter flavor. In a small bowl, mix soda and milk, and stir. Add to the creamed mix. Beat in eggs and vanilla; add flour and salt. Fold in apples and nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 13 x 5 loaf pan. Drop teaspoons of topping over the batter. Bake at 350º F for 50 minutes; cool in pan for 10 minutes and cut into slices to serve.

Notes:
First off this is an unusual sized pan; it's a standard store loaf. Pans this size are hard to come by. You can possibly make a makeshift pan of this type--as I did--by creating a divider in a 13 x 9 baking pan (a lot more standard) and propping it up with small loaf pans to fit inside or some other way of dividing.

Also, I did not use butter flavoring; my milk was not sour; I did not use nuts; and for the topping I did not use "burnt sugar flavoring," I just used a maple extract. It came out VERY yummy.

Variations:
You can use pears instead of apples for a change, and try nutmeg or clove instead of cinnamon for whatever taste you prefer. Also, nuts are not necessary if you don't like nuts--just put in a little less apple because you don't have nuts to offset the moisture. You can also half this recipe and bake it in individual 6 x 3 mini loaf tins to get three baby loaves. If you do this, bake for only 30 minutes.