Apple Cake

Description

This recipe was developed with Erfan Entezami. Makes one round cake about 10 inches [~25cm] in diameter and about 2 inches [~5cm] tall. By default it is dairy and gluten-free.

Equipment

• 10 inch [~25cm] springform cake pan
• Large mixing bowl
• Medium-sized mixing bowl
• Small bowl or cup
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Electric mixer (difficult to do by hand)
• Stirring spoon or spatula
• Strainer/colander
• Parchment paper
• Fork
• Peeler
• Mandoline with julienne setting (a good knife will work fine, it just might take longer)
• Oven

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1-1.5 lbs [~1/2-2/3 kg] baking apples (I like Granny Smith and Honeycrisp)
• 1.25 cups [~300 ml] unsweetened applesauce
• 1 lb [~0.45 kg] Countrycrock unsalted plant butter
  or 1 lb [~0.45 kg] unsalted butter (contains dairy)
• 5 large eggs
• 2 cups [~475 ml] granualted white sugar
• 3 cups [~735 ml] King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour, loosely packed
  or 3 cups [~735 ml] all purpose flour, loosely packed (contains gluten)
• 1 tbsp [~15 ml] Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 2 tsp [~10 ml] Morton's kosher salt
• 1 tsp [~5 ml] baking powder
• 1.5 tsp [~7.5 ml] ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp [~2.5 ml] ground clove
• 1/4 tsp [~1.25 ml] ground nutmeg

Topping:

• 3 tsp [~15 ml] granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp [~5 ml] ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup [~250 ml] pecan pieces (optional)

Directions

Before anything else:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F [~175°C]

Preparing the apples:

1. Peel the apples and slice them with the mandoline into strips about 1/4 inch [~2/3 cm] in width and only just thick enough to not droop
2. Bake them for 10-15 minutes to dry them out a little

Preparing the batter:

1. Microwave or otherwise heat the butter until it's barely solid and very soft
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in the mixing bowl with the electric mixer on medium/high for 2-5 minutes
3. Beat the eggs with the fork in the medium mixing bowl
4. With the mixer on low, add the applesauce and eggs
5. Mix in the salt, baking powder, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg

Preparing the topping:

1. Mix all topping ingredients together in the small bowl

Combining and final steps:

1. Line the cake pan with parchment paper
2. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the cake pan
3. Mix the apples into the remaining batter
4. Pour the remaining batter into the cake pan
5. Sprinkle the topping over the cake
6. Bake in the oven for 75 minutes
7. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving