The Fresh Loaf

News & Information for Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts

Apple Cake

November 14, 2011 - 8:30pm
OldWoodenSpoon's picture
OldWoodenSpoon

ITJB Apple Cake for a nice break

I said I was going to take a break and bake other things, and I am determined to follow through.  We made our annual pilgrimage to Apple Hill in the Placerville area of California, USA this past Saturday.  We go every year to buy fresh apples, eat too much apple pie, and enjoy the Fall season, mountain air, and fresh apples.  With a half bushel of Stayman Winesap apples we brought home sitting in a corner in the kitchen, I had to bake Aunt Lillian's Apple Cake from Inside the Jewish Bakery.  We are very glad I did, because this is really, really good!

The book says this is great with a cup of coffee for breakfast.  In the interest of thoroughness in testing, I had to try it.

The book is, of course, right!  This makes a great replacement for toast, and even for everything else, at breakfast.  It is light, sweet but not cloyingly so, and tastes like apple, not like cake with a bit of apple in it.  It does go great with coffee.

Thanks for stopping by
OldWoodenSpoon

freerk's picture

sautumner frangipani; diverting all power to the pies

August 13, 2011 - 2:13pm -- freerk
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General

Even though summer just doesn't seem to happen this year in these parts of the world, there are some wonderful summer fruits to be enjoyed.

Being under a strict bread baking embargo right now due to an overfull freezer, it seemed best to take advantage of the local produce (and fix my weekend baking crave in one go).

Here they are: 1x full fledged "summer of your dreams" in the shape of an almond lemon torte with fresh strawberries;

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April 10, 2011 - 1:58pm
dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Apple Breakfast Cake from AB&P

Apple Breakfast Cake

I happened upon the formula for “Apple Breakfast Cake” while browsing Michel Suas' Advanced Bread and Pastry looking for something or other I've now forgotten. My wife loves cakes that are loaded with fresh fruit, and the photo in the book looked pretty wonderful. I was also thinking about the fabulously delicious Coffee Cake we were served for breakfast several mornings at SFBI, and hoped this cake might be as good.

I'm not a cake baker. My one attempt at a genoise resulted in a wonderful, eggy-flavored, dry and crumbly, 8-inch cookie. That was 20 or 25 years ago. I have recovered sufficiently from that traumatic humiliation to be able to consider baking something called a “cake” without panic. The process for Suas' Apple Breakfast Cake had only one step that seemed like it might present a challenge, so I decided to make it.

 

Ingredients

Baker's %

Wt

Eggs

65.38

2 7/8 oz

Sugar

57.69

2 ½ oz

Raisins

57.69

2 ½ oz

Walnut pieces

38.46

1 5/8 oz

Butter, melted

57.69

2 ½ oz

Apples, peeled, diced

384.62

1 lb, ¾ oz

Vanilla extract

1.54

½ tsp

Bread flour (KAF AP)

100

4 3/8 oz

Baking powder

3.46

1 tsp

Salt

1.54

¼ tsp

Total

768.07

2 lb, 1 ½ oz

 

Notes

  1. I used two whole large eggs.

  2. I rinsed and drained the raisins, although not instructed to do so in the recipe.

  3. I toasted the walnuts for 8 minutes at 325ºF.

  4. I used two golden delicious and about 1 1/2 braeburn apples.

Process

  1. Spray an 8 inch cake pan with nonstick spray (or butter and flour it).

  2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt, and reserve.

  3. Whip the eggs and sugar to the ribbon stage.

  4. Add the raisins, walnuts and meted butter. Mix to incorporate.

  5. Fold in the diced apples and vanilla extract.

  6. Fold the sifted ingredients into the mixture until well-incorporated.

  7. Pour the batter into the pan.

  8. Bake at 335ºF (168ºC) for about 45 minutes. (I found my cake needed 60 minutes' baking to be sufficiently browned and firm. This may be because of the added water in the plumped raisins, or just because.)

  9. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or onto a cardboard circle.

  10. Glaze with a flat icing made with powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest. (I did not make the icing. I just used a light sifting of powdered sugar on each slice, just before serving.)

 

Suas' description of this pastry is, “This country-style cake is tasty, moist, and dense with apples.” All true. The cake is very moist. The texture is close to that of a moist bread pudding. There is really just enough batter to hold all the apples, raisins and walnuts together. It is rather sweet, but not too sweet. I just dusted slices with powdered sugar and was glad I skipped the icing. The cake is quite rich. I think it makes a nice dessert for any meal or a little something to have with a cup of tea or coffee. I couldn't make a whole breakfast out of it.

This is a lovely cake. It is delicious to eat and has aided in my recovery from the old cake trauma.

David

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