Spiced Apple Cake
You can use any type of apples in season. The cake will taste slightly different every time, but it is always moist as well as easy to prepare. Store the cake in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Ingredients:
- 3 green apples
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 2 Tbs. granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan.
Core and thinly slice the apples, leaving the skin intact. In a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, butter and egg. Stir in two-thirds of the apple slices.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture along with the raisins, stirring until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Arrange the remaining apple slices in a pattern on top, pressing them gently into the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake until the cake is golden and springy to the touch, about 50 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake stand in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into wedges to serve. Serves 8 to 10.
Adapted from New Healthy Kitchen Series, Desserts, by Annabel Langbein (Simon & Schuster, 2006)