apple cake

Autumn has come to Los Angeles.  The weather is cooling down and the days are getting shorter.  This time of the year always means lots of apples are showing up in the markets and lots of apples means lots of baking.  Yum.

Earlier this week I finally made this apple cake with toffee topping.  It is one of those recipes that you can whip up really quickly when you need something for dessert when company comes over, which is the reason why I actually got around to making it myself. Just about every ingredient that the recipe requires will already be sitting around your pantry.  The only thing I needed to get specifically to make this was heavy whipping cream (because only Paula Deen has whipping cream constantly at her disposal in the refrigerator).

It isn't my favorite baked apple dessert but I'd still make it again if I was in a pinch but with the addition of a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Adapted from the original recipe:

3 apples (I used fugi but next time I would probably use granny smith to make it more tart)

juice of 1/2 lemon

100 g / 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

200 g / 1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste because I like the flavor better than the extract)

3 eggs

200 g / 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

100 g / 1/2 cup sugar

120 ml / 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 375 F, grease and flour a 9.5 inch springform pan.

Peel and core the apples, cut them into bite size chunks. Add the lemon juice and stir. Arrange the apples evenly on the bottom of your baking pan.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract then add the eggs one by one. Add the flour, the baking powder and the milk and mix until just combined. Pour the batter over the apples into the springform pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until done.

Remove your cake from the oven to cool and start to make the topping: put the butter and the sugar in a medium pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium heat. Sugar gets very hot while melting.  Don’t add all the cream at once, pour it in very slowly, start drop by drop, then in a steady stream, stir constantly. Continue to simmer for another minute over low heat. 

Remove cake from springform pan and drizzle the melted toffee over the top.  Serve warm or room temperature.