When life gives you apples… of course, you make apple cake!
Since apples are a common fruit and the most readily available to all of us at all times, we thought it would be a great idea to give you all the recipe of a perfect apple cake to survive the 20 20 lockdown. This is absolutely delicious and can be eaten in winter or summer… anytime! It can be made for a birthday cake for those of us who find it difficult to ice cakes or simply prefers fruit cakes, for children whose mothers are always finding a way to add fruits to their diets, for friends coming over for tea, or even as a dessert for a dinner party. We’ve literally tried it in all the scenarios and maybe more, and it has never failed. I’ve even impressed some business associates, and at another time, my in-law’s close friends with this cake. Thats the extent. So its a must MUST try for all of you.
You will need very basic baking ingredients for this. Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk and vanilla. Any apples will do for this cake. Although, the star ingredient of this cake is cinnamon. You will need a very small amount of it but the main aim of the cinnamon is to bring out the taste of apples. Which is the reason why they’re usually used together in most apple dishes. Its an age-old combination. For those of you who don’t like cinnamon, don’t worry, you can skip it completely, although it is a flavour worth trying.
To line the cake tin for this one, take a bigger piece of parchment/baking/butter paper. Grease the tin with butter or butter spray and tuck the paper into the tin in one piece. Usually we invert cakes, but this one we will lift out of the cake tin.
Peel, core and slice the apple thinly. Somewhat like the picture above. If its too thick then it wont cook through. Apples turn brown very quickly after cutting. So, either cut them just before you start making the cake or cut and put a very small amount of lemon juice and keep.
Begin with beating eggs and sugar in a bowl with an electric beater. You will notice as you beat more the yellow mixture will turn lighter in colour and fluffier. That is because of the air you have incorporated. You can also use a whisk but make sure to reach close to the lighter colour stage before you stop.
Add the milk, butter, vanilla, flour, cinnamon and baking powder. You’ll get a ribbon consistency batter.
Pour the batter into the cake tin. Now take the apples and arrange them on top.
While arranging just ensure that the apples are evenly distributed even if you choose to put them in any other pattern. We are placing them on top so that while baking when they sink in, they settle somewhere in the middle of the cake. If we add them to the batter, they will sink to the bottom. If you want them to remain on top after baking also, then slice your apples thinner so they wont be heavy and will stay on top. We personally, like them in the cake. So, its your preference… both work well.
Sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon powder on top. The further up you sprinkle it from, more evenly it will spread.
Bake in the preheated oven. Do not open your oven till the stipulated time given in your recipe as that would drop the temperature of the oven.
Check with a skewer and if it comes out clean then take it out of the oven. Be careful where you’re putting in the skewer. If you put it though a piece of apple it may come out wet. In that case check it again where you feel the cake is visible.Let the cake cool in the tin for 20 mins. Don’t invert. Lift the cake out with the help of the paper.
Pull the paper down from the sides very carefully and gently.
Now there are a few different ways to serve it. If you’re serving it for tea, just warm it (you can microwave it for 30 seconds) and serve it.
You can also dust it with icing sugar and serve. We mostly use the tea infuser for this purpose. It makes the job easier. You can also use a small tea strainer and tap it.
If you’re serving it as a dessert, add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a dollop of whipped cream. This tastes the best. It adds a beautiful texture and enhances the flavour of the cake. People love it when served with ice-cream.
You can go one step further and dust a bit of cinnamon powder on the ice cream. This is a divine combination for anybody who likes cinnamon. Its heavenly!
Recipe: Moist Apple Cake
Ingredients:
125 gm flour 125 gm castor sugar 2 eggs 75 gm butter, melted 75 ml milk, room temperature 2 ¼ tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla extract/essence 1 ½ tsp cinnamon Powder 2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced extra sugar and cinnamon for dusting
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line an 8 inch round cake tin. Just push and mould a large piece of parchment paper in the tin and trim the edges.
In a bowl sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder.
In another bowl cream the sugar and eggs till light and fluffy.
Add milk and melted butter to the batter along with vanilla extract and the flour mixture.
Peel and slice apples and if you want you can coat the slices with a little lemon juice to prevent browning.
Pour the batter in the lined tin and arrange the apple slices on top of the batter. Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon powder over the apples.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or till a skewer inserted near the edge of the cake comes out clean. If you will put a skewer in the centre it will be moist as all the juices of the apple are in the centre.
Remove from the oven and let it stand for 20 mins then holding the paper pull it out and place on a board.
Sprinkle icing sugar on top and serve warm with Ice cream or whipped cream.