This is an incredibly moist and simple French cake with an abundance of fresh apples, there's just enough batter to hold all of the fruit together. You can also substitute pears or apple pears, so this is a perfect recipe to use with fall and winter produce.
French Apple Cake
~ Adapted from Around My French Table
3/4 cup (95 g) Whole Grain Red Fife Flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 medium sized apples
2 large eggs
3/4 cups (150 g) sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup (115 g) butter, melted and cooled
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 8 or 9 inch springform pan (or cake pan) and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
Peel and core the apples. Roughly cut into 1 inch cubes, you should have approximately 4 heaping cups of apples weighing roughly 400g.
In the bowl of a standing mixer or with handheld beaters, beat the eggs until frothy. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until batter is smooth and pale yellow in colour.
Mix in half of the dry ingredients and once it's incorporated, add half of the melted butter and continue mixing. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and melted butter and mix until the batter is smooth and thick. With a rubber spatula fold in the apples until completely coated with batter.
Scrape cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until top is golden brown and a knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan, this cake can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature.
Comments
I followed commenters recommendations and reduced sugar to 1/2 cup, baked for 45 minutes and served with cardamom whipped cream (1c whipped cream, 1 tbsp powdered sugar, 1 tsp cardamom) . Was fantastic.
Made this yesterday with whole grain red spring wheat flour, as I didn’t have any red fife available. Still turned out really well; the cake was light and pleasantly moist. Used 4 very old granny smith apples; even with their added tartness, I found it it to be a touch too sweet, so I’d recommend cutting the sugar by 1/4 cup (or more if you use sweeter apples or pears).
Also added a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg to make the cake taste a bit more like an apple pie.
Cake was baked in an aluminum 9.5" circular cake pan at 325F in a convection oven for 50 minutes.
Perfect after dinner cake with a healthy dollop of cardamom whip cream. Thanks Flourist!
I put in the oven for 50min and it is very burnt on top. Try starting with 40 minutes.
As a new Flourist fan, can’t wait to try this with my Flourist flours. I’ve been making this cake for years using a mix of all-purpose, whole wheat or atta, and always cut the sugar from 3/4 c to 1/2 c – or even less if the fruit is extra sweet. Also, I agree with the author, Dorie Greenspan, a mix of fruit is best – different kinds of apples, or apple and pear together. The cake is a great way to use up slightly sad assorted bits, or bruised fruit. I usually make 2/3 of the recipe in a 5” springform pan for a tallish cake, or an 8 x2” round pan for a flat one, using one extra-large or jumbo egg. I also recommend the original flavour profile with cardamom, lemon zest and rum – brightens those winter fruits in the cold dark days. Easy every-day cake, and can be dressed for company with vanilla ice cream and warm salted caramel sauce.
One inch cubes seems very chunky. I don’t see evidence of such in the photo.