Apple Cinnamon Cake

 It's that season here in the Northeast U.S. when apple cake recipes are as ubiquitous as falling leaves, but of all the apple cake recipes I've baked and eaten, this one (from The Sweetest Menu) takes top billing. It's hard to resist that crunchy swirl of cinnamon/sugar/butter that permeates the flavorful cake with its moist, tender crumb. There's no butter in the batter, only vegetable oil and Greek yogurt. You don't even need a mixer -- a wooden spoon and bowl will do. Drizzle with a little confectioner's sugar glaze to make it even more delicious. It's great at room temperature but divine eaten a little bit warm.

Place the dollops of cinnamon sugar on top and swirl a bit with a knife or spoon to incorporate.

The heavenly aroma wafting throughout the house will draw everyone to the kitchen.

It will be hard to resist digging in but if you don't want the confectioner's sugar glaze to melt, don't apply it hot from the oven. Wait a wee bit till it has cooled off somewhat. I'll be making this on repeat all fall. I hope you will too.

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Apple Cinnamon Cake

(From "The Sweetest Menu"

Ingredients

Apple cake

• 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
•  2 large apples, peeled and roughly chopped, mixed with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt

Cinnamon topping

• 50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Sugar glaze

• 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
• 1–2 tablespoons milk

• Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and flour an 8 1/2" springform pan.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add chopped apples mixture and stir briefly to combine.
  3. In a separate bowl, add eggs, vanilla, oil and yogurt. Whisk briefly just to break up the egg yolks.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix with a wooden spoon until combined – but be careful not to over mix. Spoon batter into prepared tin.
  5. To make cinnamon topping, combine cinnamon, sugar and butter. Mix together until lumpy and wet. Sprinkle over cake batter and using a spoon, mix lightly into batteer.
  6. Bake cake for approximately 30-35 minutes (mine took more like 40-45 minutes) or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. To make the glaze, mix together sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Stir until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add an extra tablespoon of milk. Drizzle glaze all over the cake.

French Apple Almond Cake

Is it even Fall if you haven’t made an apple cake? There are so many recipes out there for apple cake that it was hard to choose, but any recipe that includes almonds and apples has my vote. I found this winner of a dessert on a website called The Sugar Hit and made it last year but never posted it. Hey, it’s time to make it again! 

I used a buttered springform pan, placing a piece of parchment paper on the bottom. I then layered some of the batter over the paper, and placed apples over the batter in a neat pattern. Repeat with the batter (don’t worry if you don’t get complete coverage), then more apples. When you’re finished with that layer, scatter the almonds and sugar topping all over, then bake. (I overbaked it by five minutes and the bottom layer was too browned.) Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar when cooled. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee (and some vanilla sauce or ice cream wouldn’t hurt either).

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French Apple Cake

Author: Ciao Chow Linda via The Sugar Hit

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• For the apples:
• 3 medium granny smith apples (or whatever kind you like)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (for you Americans, use superfine granulated sugar)
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1 tsp rum
• For the cake batter:
• 1 + ½ sticks (150g) butter
• ½ cup (110g) caster sugar (superfine granulated sugar to you Americans)
• 2 eggs
• 1¼ cups (185g) plain flour
• ¾ cups (85g) almond meal
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp rum
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• ¼ cup milk
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds, mixed with sugar and cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F/180C and grease a 9 inch/22cm springform cake tin.
2. Peel and core the apples, then quarter them and slice them into thickish pieces.
3. Toss the pieces with the sugar, cinnamon and rum and set aside while you prepare the batter.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar, until they are light and fluffy, then add the eggs and beat them in well.
5. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and slowly mix or fold until everything is well combined. The batter will be very thick.
6. Scrape 2 thirds of the batter into the greased cake tin, and spread it evenly over the base (it will seem like there’s not enough, but there is).
7. Scatter most of the apples evenly over the cake mix, leaving enough slices for a second layer.
8. Then dollop over the remaining batter and spread carefully over the apples.
9. Add the rest of the apples, arranging the slices in a concentric circle.
10. Scatter over the chopped almonds and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out without any raw batter clinging to it.
12. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes in the tin, before carefully unmolding it and scattering over a little sugar to decorate. This is best served warm.

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Upside Down Apple Cake

What? Another apple cake recipe, when there seem to be a plethora of them at this time of year? Well yes, because A) Like cheesecake, you can never have enough apple cake recipes and B) This one is an upside-down apple cake, a cake oozing with sticky, buttery and sugary goodness that I can’t get enough of.

If you’ve followed my blog over the years, you know I’ve made upside-down cakes using lots of different fruits, including the classic pineapple, but also pears, figs, blood oranges, plums, cranberries, peaches, and there are still more to try.

This cake would make a nice addition to the traditional pumpkin pie on your Thanksgiving table, too. I made it twice in the last week or so, once with walnuts added (top photo) and the second time without walnuts, (photos below) but with an extra caramel sauce drizzled on top. It doesn’t really need either item, but the caramel sauce helped disguise a crack in the center of the cake after I flipped it too vigorously onto the plate.

And speaking of the plate, isn’t she a beauty? That two-toned blue and beige platter was made by a friend of mine – a gifted potter named Jacalynn McCord. I hadn’t seen her since we graduated from high school eons ago, but we recently reconnected at a reunion and had a blast catching up. Back when Cher was still not allowed to show her naval on TV,  Jackie and I (along with some other classmates) were members of a folk-singing group. We played the world-famous nursing home/bar mitzvah circuit, singing covers of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan songs – and even cut a record! But that was two or three lifetimes ago.

Jackie went on to study art and become a talented potter and runs a business called Lion Paw Pottery. The name derives from her alma mater, Penn State University, whose mascot is the Nittany Lion. Many, but not all, of her designs feature lion paw prints (for those diehard PSU fans) and she’ll custom-make an item too. You can peruse her website here.  I think her platter shows off this cake beautifully, and I’m sure you readers will be seeing it on future posts featuring other foods as wellJust a word about the cake – It’s delicious at any temperature, but best the day it’s made, and when it’s warm from the oven, it’s irresistible.

Upside Down Apple Cake

Author: From Delish.com

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• FOR THE APPLES:
• 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/2″ thick
• FOR THE CAKE:
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease with butter and dust with flour an 8″ round cake pan. (I used a springform pan, but some of the butter leaked causing spillage in the oven. If you use a springform pan, place it on a cookie sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil, or parchment paper underneath it.)
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat melt brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Cook until slightly thickened, about two minutes.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
5. In another large bowl, using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until softened.
6. Add eggs one at a time. then add vanilla.
7. Add half the dry ingredients to wet ingredients, beating until just combined.
8. Pour in milk and mix until fully incorporated.
9. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
10. Pour batter over apples and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean 1 hour.
11. Let cool in pan 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.

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