Recipe

The Perfect Apple Cake

The Perfect Apple Cake

Photo 1 of 2
by Becky

The Perfect Apple Cake

Photo 2 of 2
by Becky

  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Apple Cake
  • Chef

    Becky's Notes: A long love affair with fall apples led me on my quest for the perfect apple cake. I've already got the pie thing down. When trying different cake recipes, I found the right combination, from...

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Makes One 8 inch deep dish cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8 inch springform pan. Peel, core, and slice the apples. With half of the apples, turn the slices, and chop three or four times, to get a large dice.

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  2. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt until blended, set aside.

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  3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until fluffy. Add each egg, one at a time, mixing in between, then the vanilla. Scrape your bowl and beat again **I know this seems like a lot of steps, when really, you just want to throw it all in the bowl at once, and mix like a maniac. But, I must stress, that going slowly in this order, really does ensure proper incorporation of all ingredients, and ultimately leads to a more tender cake, and one that doesn't fall in the oven, or rise improperly. So, please do resist the urge to mix everything together at once**

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  4. Finally, beat in the milk. At this point, the batter will look kind of weird, like its curdled, don't worry, I promise it will come together when you add the flour. So, on that note, add the flour mixture, and beat until you get a smooth, creamy, beige batter. Woo hoo!

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  5. Now stir in your chopped apples, and spread into the prepped pan. Arrange the apple slices, overlapping them slightly, in a circular pattern over the batter.

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  6. Put the pan on the top rack of your preheated 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes. Like with all cakes, this guy is done when a toothpick (or dried spaghetti noodle, is what I use) inserted into the center comes out dry. Allow cake to cool for a little while, and remove the sides of the pan. Voila! Its yummy, all by itself, no additional adornments needed... not even ice cream, which is a revelation for me...

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Voila! Its yummy, all by itself, no additional adornments needed... not even ice cream, which is a revelation for me...:

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  1. Enjoy with friends and chai tea

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Reply

I added the spices between the vanilla and the milk, and I made small dice rather than large for a greater distribution of fruit; the cake was delicious, even if I got distracted and left it in for 3 or 4 minutes too long.

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When do you mix in the cinnamon and nutmeg? With the dry ingredients, or in the batter?

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I made this cake yesterday morning and it smelled wonderful in my kitchen. I resisted the urge to throw it all together and it came out wonderfully light. Very tasty.

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