Description
Moist spiced apple cake with thinly sliced apples and a crackly sugar topping.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom (or substitute cinnamon)
- 3 Honeycrisp apples, cored and thinly sliced (1/4-inch thick), optional to peel; use baking apples such as Honeycrisp, Gala, Honeygold, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, or Red Delicious (about 4 inches in diameter)
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar (or regular sugar) for the crackly top
- Optional: sprinkle the top with fresh grated nutmeg before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350?F.
- Prepare an 8-9-inch springform pan: line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the bottom and all sides.
- Cut the apples into thin 1/4-inch slices and set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, whip butter, olive oil, and sugar until light and creamy.
- Whisk in eggs one at a time and vanilla; sprinkle in baking powder, salt, and cardamom and whisk well, then mix in flour until combined; fold in half of the sliced apples, saving the rest for the top.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top; arrange remaining apple slices over the batter leaving spaces of bare batter; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and optional nutmeg.
- Bake on the middle rack for 50-60 minutes until puffed, deeply golden, and a toothpick comes out clean; check at 45 minutes and tent with foil if the top is getting too dark; the center should not jiggle and internal temperature should be at least 208?F.
- Let cake cool completely on a wire rack, run a knife around the edges before removing the sides of the pan.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 50-60 mins