A French Apple Cake

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Our computer has had gremlins, so haven't been able to post. Hopefully this is now sorted!

I'm always happy to find a new recipe for an apple cake, and this one comes from a French friend. It's nice and easy to make, is different from the usual apple cake, and is a nice change from the heavy Christmas pudds and cakes. I've translated it from French, hence the odd looking recipe with tbpns and grams!

200g of plain flour
10 tbspns of caster sugar + 100 g
2 eggs + 1 extra
6 tbspns of milk
2 tspns of baking powder
4 tbspns of sunflower or rapeseed oil
4 apples [I used Braeburns]
100g of butter
1 tbspn of vanilla sugar [or 1 packet]
Icing sugar for the top

Preheat oven 190C/gas5
Grease and bottom line a 23cm springform tin.

Beat the 2 eggs with the 10 tbspns of sugar; add the flour, baking powder, milk and oil.
Peel and slice the apples thinly, then add to the mixture and mix in.
Pour into the tin and bake for about 30 mins.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat together the 100g of butter, 100g of caster sugar, 1 egg and the vanilla sugar.

Take the cake out of the oven and pour this batter on top * then put back in for another 15 mins till the top becomes golden. Take out, and cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with icing sugar.






*I forgot to say that I kept some apple slices back, and put them into the batter on top of the cake. They made it look more interesting!  The cake has a good apple flavour, a nice soft texture.


What does the topping taste like? It seems a strange mixture without any flour. The nearest texture I can think of to describe it is a British macaroon - the one with rice paper on the bottom and an almond on the top. It's not crunchy, but has a similar texture to the inside
. It doesn't really show up in this photo, but it makes a nice contrast with the apple cake.  




Comments

The Caked Crusader said…
Apple cake is always one of my faves - I love how your dusting of icing sugar frames that apples
16/1/14 10:59 am
Suelle said…
Thus sounds unusual - but very tasty, I hasten to add! What sort of texture does the topping come out as? with no flour there it's hard to imagine what happens!
17/1/14 12:47 am
julie said…
It looks delicious! I like this type of cake with the toppings added mid-baking. I would like to recreate a cake my grandmother made but the recipe is lost! It had a sugary crust on top.
17/1/14 10:25 pm
Anna's kitchen table said…
That looks so good Snowy, unusual (for me) topping too.
18/1/14 4:55 am
Snowy said…
I've added a bit at the bottom of the recipe about the topping. It is unusual, but works. I didn't expect it to even set!
20/1/14 3:00 am
Suelle said…
Thanks for the explanation, Snowy - it makes the cake sound even more appealing.
21/1/14 6:06 am
Phil in the Kitchen said…
Apple cakes are just about the perfect afternoon cake as far as I'm concerned. Sounds lovely. The topping sounds like an excellent variation to me.
22/1/14 7:59 am
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