New York Apple Cake
Apples are in season, fall is in the air, let’s make some cake.
October 25th, 2020
Over the weekend at the Union Square Green Market I picked up a few varieties of NY apples. One was Winter Banana which surprisingly smells like banana, and the other Gold Rush. Both are sweet, tart and very crisp. Any kind of apple will do for this recipe, though. Granny Smith is my recommendation if shopping at the grocery store.
Recipe
Yield: 1 eight inch round cake (6 servings)
INGREDIENTS
1 stick (half cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 small apples, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch dice (1.5 cups)
1 cup all purpose flour (125g)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/8 teaspoon clove powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated, white sugar (150g)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
1/4 cup Caramel Sauce (optional)
1/2 Tablespoon flaky salt (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut out a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your 8-inch cake pan. With oil or butter, grease the bottom and sides of the pan and place down cut-out parchment paper. Dust all sides of the pan with a bit of all-purpose flour and shake off the excess. Set aside. (Reference picture below.)
In the microwave or pan, melt the butter and set aside.
Peel and cut apples into 1/2 inch cubes, enough for 1 1/2 cups.
In a bowl combine, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and clove and mix well.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a whisk, mix together eggs and sugar until it reaches a pale yellow color and become thick. (Reference picture below.)
Mix in the vanilla paste with eggs and sugar.
Mix in half of the flour mixture with the egg and sugar mixture, then half of the melted butter. Repeat with the rest of the flour and wet mixture. Be careful not to over-mix.
Mix in the apples. The batter should look like the picture below.
Spread cake mix into the pan evenly.
Place on the center rack and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes then remove from pan. You may need to gently run a knife across the sides it is not coming out easily.
Drizzle Caramel Sauce on top and sprinkle with flaky salt if you want to add an extra something special to the cake. Or enjoy as is.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container or with plastic wrap.
Greased pan with parchment and dusted with flour.
Beaten eggs and sugar mixture.
Cake batter.
