Sunday, November 3, 2013

Spiced Apple Cake by Rachel

Growing up, I really enjoyed making apple pies.  Even today, I still love making apple pies.  But on this particular day, I was lazy and didn't feel like making a pie crust.  So there.

That's what brought me to making a spiced apple cake.  With apples being so deliciously in season right now, I made my way to a farmer's market and scooped up some Newton Pippon apples, which are perfect for an apple cake.  They're tart just like a Granny Smith, but a little sweeter on the finish.  Perfect for my cake recipe.



Ingredients
2 large Newton Pippon apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large bits
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1pinch of allspice
1 tbsp superfine sugar
7 oz of 2% Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
1 tbsp olive oil



First, cook your apples:

- Put the apple bits in a skillet that has been heated on medium-high for about 3 minutes.  They should sizzle when you put them in.

- Add the butter, dark brown sugar, regular sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Give them a little stir so that all the ingredients get distributed into the apples and the butter is melted.

- Leave the apples alone to cook for about 6 minutes without mixing or shifting them around.  You'll see water start to come out of the apples which is what you want.  After the first 6 minutes, give them a quick stir so that the apples don't burn.

- Let the apples cook until they start to get a bit brown and a little crisp on the edges.  Then, remove them from the heat and set them aside to cool at room temperature.

Time to prep!  Set that oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

This recipe makes enough batter for a normal loaf pan (filled half way) and a 6"x 3" inch cake pan (filled half way). You can pour this into anything you want, but whatever you pour it into, make sure that you oil it, dust the sides with flour, and line it with parchment paper so that you easily release it from the pan.  You don't want to fill a pan all the way because this cake will rise.

Cut the parchment paper to match the shape and size of the bottom of your pan.  Ta-dah!

Now, to make the batter:

- Cream together (with a hand or standing mixer) the stick of butter and the 1 1/4 cup of regular sugar.  This should take about 1-2 minutes.  Your butter needs to be soft to the touch all the way through the center in order for it to cream properly.

- Add one egg at a time.  Make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next egg.

Creamed butter + sugar + egg.

- After you've added in all the eggs, mix in the vanilla extract.

 - In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, superfine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

- Add half of the dry mixture into the creamed butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated.  Then, add 1/2 of the yogurt in and mix again until fully incorporated.  Be careful not to over-mix.  This will make your cake hard and dense.  As soon as the ingredients look mixed in, leave it alone.

- Repeat the step above using the rest of the dry mixture and yogurt.  Then, add the olive oil and mix it in as well, again, keeping in mind that you don't want to over-mix.

Pretty batter <3
- Now, fold in the cooked apples into the cake batter.  Pour the mixture into your parchment-lined, oiled and floured pan.

Adding in my cooked apples.  Smells so good!

- Tap the filled pan to get out the air bubbles and shake it side to side to make sure that the batter is level.

- Place the pan(s) into the oven to cook for about 45 minutes or until you can stick in a toothpick and pull it out without any batter sticking to it.  My cake needed an extra 10 minutes in the oven.

- Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then run a butter knife along the edges.  If you prepped your pan right, the cake should release in one flip with the parchment paper stuck to the bottom.  Remove the parchment paper.



You can enjoy as is OR you can add a topping.  I chose a salted caramel because I just couldn't help myself, but the cake is delicious on its own with a cup of tea.  Yum.  I'll post a great frosting to use for this cake and the recipe for my salted caramel next!


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