apple cinnamon cake

apple cinnamon cake

• 10 Jun 2013

A few weeks ago I made a quince and nut cake. I decided to make the cake again but this time using apples instead of quince. As it's winter in Sydney, apples are at their best and grating an apple is a whole lot less prep than poaching quinces.



I decided to bake the cake in my old pie tin but I used a layer of foil over the base so the cake batter didn't leak through the air holes. I also placed the pie tin on a baking tray, just in case. There's nothing worse than having to clean burnt cake from the bottom of the oven.



I did modify the quince and nut cake recipe slightly. A 9 inch pie tin doesn't hold as much batter as a 9 inch cake tin, so I halved the ingredients. I decided to leave out the nuts and topped the cake with a layer of sliced apples then sprinkled over some cinnamon and sugar.



Because of the grated apple, the cake is lovely and moist.



I decided to have my piece of apple cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream,



and dusted with a sprinkle of icing sugar.



Now that I'm back at work, the leftovers were brought in for morning tea. I left a very capable baker with the task of feeding the throng while I was away, but they tell me they still missed my baking.



Here's the recipe for you.
Apple Cinnamon Cake 
Cake
125g softened unsalted butter
⅓ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
⅓ cup milk or buttermilk

190 g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup chopped or grated apple

Topping

1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon caster sugar 

Method:

Grease, flour and line the base of a 23 cm (9 in) pie plate. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Sift the dry ingredients into a small bowl. Set to one side. In a medium size bowl cream the butter, the sugars and vanilla until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Add the flour in thirds alternating with the milk to make a soft batter. Gently fold in the chopped or grated apple.

Spoon into the prepared pie plate and smooth the top. Arrange the sliced apple over the cake batter, slightly overlapping the slices. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the sliced apple.

Place the pie dish on the middle shelf in the oven and bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until the cake is cooked when tested. Place on a  wire rack to cool. When the cake is cool remove it from the tin and discard the lining paper.

To serve, dust with icing sugar and serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.

If you like you could add ½ cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts or almonds to the cake batter before baking.

The cake was good but I think I can make it better. Next time, I'm going to try making the cake with a crumble topping sprinkled over the apples and I'll chop the apples rather than grate them, for a bit more texture or maybe I'll make an upside down apple cake. Stay tuned.

If you're looking for more of my recipes, you can find my recipe for strawberry swirl cheesecake here on decor8.

See you all next week,

Jillian