Apple Cake
Apples are in! (At least around us in New England.) They're appearing by the bushel and the peck, despite the drought we've experienced for the past several months.
Natch, it's time for Bruce's apple cake. I can't believe I haven't shared this recipe with you before. It's a staple in our house--even a great breakfast cake, as you'll see.
It's also an old recipe, one he got from his grandmother. In fact, the beat-up, stained recipe card calls it "Israeli Apple Cake." I don't know about the Israeli part (are there apples in Israel?), but I do know she used a tasteless oil for the batter. Blech. If we know anything about real food, we know there's no satiety there. So Bruce has morphed the recipe with walnut oil. Yum.
As you know, we're nuts about nut oils. But one warning: they don't move off the supermarket shelves quickly. If you get a bottle home and it smells rancid when opened, take it back for a full refund! Or consider buying nuts oils from sites like amazon.com. You can find the whole La Tourangelle collection there. Check this out for a three-can supply. Plus, it's lots cheaper than at the grocery store. And if you look up the six-can packs, it's even cheaper. Just make sure you store them in the fridge before and after opening--because all those omega-3s and polyunsaturated fats go whangy pretty fast at room temperature.
Enough with the blather. On to the cake. Did I mention it's a one-bowl wonder? Indeed.
There are three steps here: macerating the apples, making the batter, and baking the cake.
First, peel, core, and dice 5 large tart apples. You want about 5 cups diced apple. Mix these pieces in a big bowl with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Set the bowl aside for at least 1 hour.
Here's the moment when you can start this cake ahead, maybe for breakfast the next morning, particularly a holiday morning. Dice those apples; mix them with the sugar; and set the bowl aside, at room temperature and covered, overnight.
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Dab a little walnut oil on a paper towel and grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
By now, you'll notice that the apples have released a great deal of moisture in the bowl. Add all this: 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup toasted walnut oil, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 large eggs. Just dump it all in, then stir everything well, making sure the eggs and leavening are mixed evenly throughout the batter. It'll be thick. Keep stirring.
Pour it into the prepared baking dish. Bake until golden brown, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 55 minutes, perhaps a few minutes more if you're working in a metal baking dish (not a glass one as Bruce does). Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing into squares to serve. Wow. Who's got the whipped cream? Or the big cup of coffee? Better yet, who's got both?
(Want to know more? This cake recipe plus many, many more are found in THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK, which you can order here.)
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 2:32PM | in Cake, Desserts, Fabulously Empty Calories apple cake, apples, autumn cake, cake, desserts, fruit desserts, walnut oil
Reader Comments (19)
I will be on a one woman mission to find Walnut Oil tomorrow. I don't trust the local grocery, but I have an idea of where I can find it by my house. I will be making this for Saturday's breakfast when we celebrate my husband's birthday. He will be excited by this special-and looks pretty easy treat. Thanks for the inspiration!
Dawn: Walnut oil is always available at Whole Foods, if pricey. Also always available at most health food stores. And some supermarkets--although not the specific brand I mention in the post. It's at the Super Stop&Shop by us in the Spectrum brand.
Bruce says that you should take it off the shelf, walk to the check-out register, screw open the top, and smell the stuff right then and there before you pay for it. He claims he's done this a "million times." It's another reason I don't go grocery shopping with him. I think that's very "New York" of him (I, the much more sedate Southerner), but I'm sort of jealous that he has the gumption to do it.
M.
Growing up in Philly and now living outside of Atlanta, I have no problem doing of smelling it like Bruce suggests. I love watching the gentile Southerners when my brash, Northeastern girl comes out. My husband won't go to the grocery store any more with me, because I have done things like this (usually when I test grapes or want to smell the fish). He just walks away when he senses the behavior coming, and pretends that he doesn't know me This behavior just encourages me though. After knowing me for 24 years and growing up together, you'd think that he'd realize I don't easily get embarrassed.
Thanks for making me laugh tonight and I'll be hitting up Whole Foods tomorrow. My 2 year old is excited about making this cake with me and my husband can't wait for Saturday morning.
Perfect timing! I have apples, picked by my girls two weeks ago, sitting around and walnut oil in the fridge! This will be a perfect treat for Sunday morning.
All the best!
Trish
Gorgeous! No walnut oil here, but we do have hazelnut, will that work? And hey, you're supposed to tweet when you put up new posts, I nearly missed this one! ;-)
No walnut oil????? How do you even go on living down there????
Oh, right: the health insurance.
Listen, hazelnut oil would be dreamy in this cake.
M.
Mark,
I have a similar apple cake recipe that I have used for years. I use homemade raw yogurt in place of the oil and grind some whole grain, usually spelt since it's a little softer than wheat. It turns out wonderfully!! One tip when using spelt; make the cake the night before.
I can't find walnut oil in my area, or smoked olive oil for that matter!! I do love your recipes and they generally turn out great even when I have to substitute for some hard to find ingredient.
Lisa
Thanks, Lisa. I'm surprised about the lack of walnut oil--but I suppose it stands to reason. We live very remotely in New England--the closest supermarket is many miles down the hills. But they do stock the nut oils in the "organic" section. Strange, but there it is.
I LOVE the idea with spelt. Excellent thought. I have made this cake with half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat pastry flour to good effect, although I did think it was a tad dry. But I am all for figuring out how to get more whole grains into what we eat.
M.
Do you have any preference on the type of apples to use? Or do you use a mix?
This sounds heavenly - making it this weekend for sure :)))))))
Lizabeth: Honestly, just about any apple will do, although Bruce and I are both partial to tarter, firmer Macs--or maybe Macouns for a little more sweetness. The old Granny Smith standard would be fine--although there are so many apples coming in to the markets right now. I'd steer clear of soft apples like any of the Delicious family (just a personal thing) and I'd also stay away from Russets and other heirlooms--they're just so precious, they deserve to be eaten on their own.
You can also add some chopped walnuts to the cake, if you want more crunch.
M.
I have a similar recipe that I made last weekend and it was wonderful. I'm ready to compare and contrast! I love following your blog. Thank you for the wonderful writing and the great photos. I am a knitter and follow Bruce's blog, too! Thanks so much!
Perfect timing I have a huge bag of organic apples from my coop this week. They are sweet though, not tart. I might try making this with spelt flour (I have a five kg bag to use). I can already imagine how good it will taste.
Speaking of using different oils, I have a great cake recipe with pumpkin seed oil. I must remember to come back and share it, it's fantastic.
Merrie: A cake recipe with pumpkin seed oil. That must be truly amazing. I love pumpkin seed oil when it's drizzled on grilled veggies--or even on a grilled pork chop. I can only imagine it in a cake. Truly decadent and wonderful.
M.
Well, I made this today, and you'll be happy to know that I ignored your recipe completely :)
I replaced the sugar with 3/4 cup of raw organic white box honey and replaced the all purpose flour with two cups of spelt and one cup of coconut flour. My eggs were small so I also popped in an extra egg. Well thankfully my experiment was a complete success, the cake is delicious and is kind of muffin like with a lovely crust on the top. I really love how filled with apple this cake is. I felt happy giving my two little girls an extra helping.
I promise to return with the pumpkin seed oil cake recipe.
So happy I found your blog, I've been having a lot of fun with your recipes. I'll be getting the book next time I do an Amazon order.
Merrie:
Wow, such nice experimentation! I'm glad it worked out. It's so great when people take ideas and run with them. Of course, our recipe is more "main stream," as I suppose it should be. But I love adding the spelt flour to it. I'd definitely like to try it again with a combo of whole wheat pastry flour and spelt flour.
M.
Apples are grown in Israel. They are 50th worldwide in apple production. Apple cake is popular for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. That probably explains the connection to Israel. I have a recipe very similar to yours that also uses a neutral oil. Walnut oil sounds divine for this.
Sharon: Thanks for the answer! Bruce used to call this "Israeli apple cake," but back then he made it with rather tasteless canola oil (and more of it, too) as well as fewer apples. I guess that all connects up to make sense.
M.
I made this cake yesterday and it was a hit! I didn't have Walnut Oil so used melted butter. I've seen the nut oils but they are a bit pricey for my budget. One of these days I'll try them and I'm guessing after that they'll become a staple.
I just enjoyed a piece of cake with my morning coffee and it's even better today!
Marci
Marci: How could it be bad with melted butter? Yes, the nut oils are pricey. Again, if you live near an Asian supermarket, check them out there. They're often quite cheap there. Or search for them from sites like amazon where they often go on sale. But as I said, melted butter will certainly do the trick!
M.