A: Apple Cake

Ding, ding, ding! Round two!!!

I am very excited to start alphabetically baking my way through twenty-six new recipes!  Once again, 'A' is for apple.  I really love this apple cake recipe from Recipes and Dreams from an Italian Life by Tessa Kiros.  It results in a very dense, moist and not overly sweet dessert.  Not only is it tasty but, with its rose petal top, it is a visual showstopper.  You can have it with afternoon tea, for dessert served with fresh berries and ice cream, or even for breakfast as I did with my family.

This was the second time within a year that I made this recipe. I first tried it at home in Toronto for my mother's birthday. It was a hit. The pictures I have featured in this post are from when I made it during my recent stay in San Francisco.  Making the recipe in two different countries meant that I needed to alter a couple of my ingredients which lead to slightly different results----all positive though.

One interesting ingredient which I believe strongly attributes to the smooth texture of the cake is the potato flour. It is a product that I had never heard of prior to making this recipe. I had a bit of trouble tracking it down in Toronto. I went to several grocery stores and small health food shops in my neighbourhood and eventually tracked it down at Essence of Life Organics in Kensington Market.  When in San Francisco, I braced myself for another long search for the mysterious potato flour.  I called up three different stores within close proximity to one another and they all had it in stock! I ended up purchasing a flour by Bob's Red Mill.  BRM is a popular brand here in Toronto but none of the shops in my area that sold BRM products had their potato flour. Maybe that will change. If you have concerns about making this recipe because it requires you to buy this flour that you think you will probably never use again, it can be used for making breads, waffles, gluten-free baking, and a thickener for sauces and soups.

The original recipe calls for Rennet/Reinette apples which is a variety that I was also not familiar with prior but it is apparently a sweeter, larger cooking apple.  I was not able to find this variety for both of my baking attempts so in Toronto I settled for a mix of Cortland and Royal Gala apples and in San Francisco I used Pink Lady apples. Both times I found that I needed more than the suggested 3 apples so I would buy a couple extra just in case.

The cake looked a little different the two times I made it because in Toronto I did not peel the apples like the  recipe calls for you to do whereas in San Francisco I did.  With the peel left on, the cake certainly looked more floral and delicate.  I have put a photo of that attempt towards the end of this post. Without the peel, the cake topping had a softer texture which I found more enjoyable to eat. Depending on the results you would like to achieve you could go either way with the peel.

Since I baked and photographed this cake during my stay in San Francisco last March, I have to give another shout out to Phil for letting me use his studio and equipment, and to Victor for all of his assistance during the shoot.  Also, many thanks to the Harvey family for letting me use their kitchen. I ended up baking quite late into the night...

Ingredients:

11 Tbls butter, softened

¾ cup sugar, plus 2 ½ Tbls, extra

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs, separated

1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ Tbls potato flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 Tbls milk

3 Rennet apples (or other large sweet cooking apples), about 7 ¾oz each

confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Makes a 9 ½-inch cake

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and flour a 9 ½-inch round springform cake pan.

2. Using electric beaters, whip the butter and ¾ cup of the sugar in a wide bowl until creamy.  Add the vanilla, then add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking well after each.  Whisk in the flour, potato flour, and baking powder, adding the milk as the mixture thickens to make it come together in a very thick batter.  Scrape the mixture off the beaters into the bowl, then wash and dry them.

3. Use the clean beaters to whip the egg whites to snowy peaks.  Using a metal spoon, fold a scoop of the egg whites into the cake batter until evenly dispersed, then gently fold in the rest of the whites.  If they are difficult to incorporate, give a quick whisk with the electric beaters to mix it all together.  Scrape into the prepared pan and level the surface.

4. Peel, core, and halve the apples.  Cut across the halves into slices of 1/8- to-1/4-inch.  Starting at the centre of the cake, arrange the slices slightly obliquely, pushed about halfway into the batter.  Pack them tightly together, working your way outward, like the petals of a rose.  It may seem as if there is too much apple, but fill in any spaces as it will look lovely later.  Scatter the extra 2 ½ tablespoons of sugar evenly over the top.

5. Bake until the apples begin to get golden and some of the edges are dark, about 45 minutes, then cover with foil and continue baking for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until the cake is done.  (The middle should look ever-so-faintly gooey).  It is important that the cake is not overcooked, as the edges and bottom will dry out.

6. Remove the foil and let cool before removing from the pan.  Serve dusted, slightly with confectioner's sugar.

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Here is a picture from when I first made this apple cake in Toronto. Notice how the skins were left on the apple slices and how it gives the cake a more structured look.

Behind the Scenes: A couple of pictures of me and Victor in Phil's studio during one of the shoots.