A Rustic Apple Cake

This Rustic Apple Cake looks and tastes like autumn sunshine. The sliced apples are flavored with lemon and cinnamon, and then arranged in rows on top of a nutmeg-scented batter.  Need a lovely cake to serve for afternoon tea? Here’s the recipe:

Rustic Apple Cake: The Video

Watch my video demonstration of this recipe! As a bonus for watching, I’ll bring you on a walk in the aforementioned autumn sunshine. (To see all of my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel.)

Directions

To start, obtain three baking-type apples (such as ‘Golden Delicious’ ‘Gala,’ or ‘Crispin’)…

And peel and core them. I hope you have an apple corer — mine, pictured above, came from this online source.

Cut the apples in half, then cut each half crosswise into slices that are between 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick.

Put the slices in a large-ish bowl, and toss them with the juice of half a lemon. The lemon will not only add terrific flavor, but it will stop the apples from turning brown.

Toss the apples with cinnamon-sugar (1/2 cup sugar blended with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon).

At this point, the slices will be sinfully delicious. Try not to eat all of them.

Next, grease an 8×8-inch cake pan, and — if you wish to unmold the cake later — line it with parchment paper. Grease in the pan will hold the paper in place.

Please ignore the above photograph.

To make the cake batter, grab a medium-size bowl, and whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and a whisper of nutmeg.

A note for my European and Canadian readers: Because I love you, and also because I want you to make this exquisite cake, I’ve included metric measurements in the printable version of this recipe. We’ll get there in just a minute.

In the bowl of a standing mixer (or just a large bowl, if you are using hand-held electric beaters), add 1 whole, honking stick of softened, unsalted butter.

What’s the easiest way to soften a stick of butter? Leave it out of the refrigerator overnight. Well, that’s what I do.

At medium speed, beat the butter for exactly 1 minute. Then add 1 cup sugar, and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy — about 3 minutes.

With the mixture still running at medium speed, gradually beat in 2 large, beaten eggs…

1/3 cup flavorless vegetable oil…

And 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.

At “low” speed, gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour disappears into the batter.

Why is it important not to overmix batters that contain baking soda or baking powder? You’ll find the answer in this fun Baking 101 post.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth it out with a blue spatula.

Then arrange three rows of apple slices on top, in a slightly-overlapping fashion. I arranged mine so that the end rows faced one way, and the middle row faced another way. But you can arrange your own slices in any manner that floats your boat.

Put the pan on a baking sheet, and pop the works into a preheated 375°F oven. Bake until the apples soften, and a toothpick inserted in various places in the batter comes out clean — 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before unmolding.

Unmold onto a board or a platter. I couldn’t make up my mind as to whether I should photograph the dessert on a board, a blue cake stand, or a white stand. So I experimented with all three presentations.

Here’s the cake on a blue stand…

And on a white stand.

Probably I have too many cake stands.

In any event, cut the cake into 9 equal servings. The corner pieces will have the crunchiest crust. Mmmm.

I think you’ll love this rustic poetry. It’s scrumptious!

Here’s the printable, complete with both US and metric measurements:

 

Enjoy this recipe? Then by all means post a comment in the “comments” section below. You might like to receive my email updates, too.

Love ya!
Kevin