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Dolores' German Apple Cake
Serves 8 or more
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| Who is Dolores? She's my German sister-in-law and she's nearly as delicious as this cake! | |
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Ingredients
4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, cubed then softened
41/2 ounces superfine granulated sugar
3 medium eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten together
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
7 ounces plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons milk
2 pounds (6-7 apples) cooking apples (granny smith or similar tart apple) peeled, cored and quartered
1 tablespoon superfine granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
confectioners' sugar
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Method
1 Put the softened butter in the bowl of an electric cake mixer and mix until soft and loose. Add the sugar, eggs and pure vanilla extract and beat until thick and creamy; don't worry too much if it separates - it all comes together in the end!
2 Sift the flour and baking powder together on to a piece of greaseproof paper, then mix in, a quarter at a time, adding the milk.
3 Transfer the mixture to a 9in round cake pan, the bottom and sides lined with parchment paper. Smooth the top of the batter. Partially slice the pieces of apple, about three-quarters of the way through each piece, open them up like fans and press them deeply into the cake batter; make two layers of apples.
4 Mix the tablespoon of sugar and the cinnamon together and sprinkle the top of the cake with cinnamon sugar.
5 Bake in an oven preheated to (350°F) for 50 minutes, until golden brown. If the apples are still a little hard, cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil and continue cooking for 10 minutes more.
6 Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warmish dusted with confectioners' sugar.
Tips
This is fabulously moist with loads of apple. It can be made just as well with a hand-held electric beater, and although I haven't tried it, I'm sure it would come up trumps if made in a food processor with the whipping blade.
You need good apples - they need to retain their shape after cooking (not turn to fluff) and have a sharp bite to them which gives the cake some interest. However, you don't want dry fibrous apples that take an age to soften.
As with most cakes, the pan preparation and weighing of ingredients can be done the day before baking the cake (handy to remember if you're trying to save yourself time on baking day). The butter and eggs should be at room temperature because the butter will be easier to whip, and the two fats (butter and egg yolks) will be more inclined to cosy-up together in the bowl. Peel the apples at the last minute because they discolor. To accompany the cake, a pool of cream, a dollop of yoghurt, a blob of crème fraiche - will all work.
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