An Apple A Day: Maria’s Italian Apple Cake
This simple little cake is full of pleasant little surprises. Firstly, it’s supremely easy; lightly sauteed apples are folded into a quick batter and you’re good to go. Secondly, the apples are paired with just a little lemon and vanilla rather than the usual cinnamon. I’d guess is where the “Italian” comes from. While apple and cinnamon is tried and true combination, this lighter touch really allows the apple flavor to shine. The cake itself bakes up very moist and makes a delicious rustic dessert or sweet afternoon snack. It’s great to have on hand as it IS so moist that it’s just as lush and tasty three or four days after it comes out of the oven. Perfect should Miss Marple drop by for a spot of tea unexpectedly.
Your apples should be firm enough to stand up to their quick saute, but should also be ones that you enjoy eating out of hand. Experiment with your favorites!
The original, from my friend Maria–who’s not Italian, but could be–actually had more butter in it and no vanilla, but I think the below version is improved with those changes.
Maria’s Italian Apple Cake
1/2 c butter
4 medium cooking apples
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c flour
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 9″ baking pan.*
In a shallow pan, melt the butter. Remove 5 tbs to a mixing bowl. Saute sliced apples in remaining 3 tbs of butter over medium heat till tender and just beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. (Covering the pan for the first few minutes helps speed this process.)
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In mixing bowl, vigorously mix eggs and yolk into the melted butter. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until evenly incorporated. Fold in apples and pour batter into the prepared pan, shaking a bit to even out the apples.
Bake till evenly browned on the top and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only the slightest bit of moist crumb, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan and finish cooling.
Notes & Variations:
Originally, the recipe called for a 9″ round springform–buttered and lined with parchment–which I’ve tended not to use as the batter is quite loose and the big pieces of apple make it hard to get slices with nice clean points. Instead, I use a 9″ square pan, buttered, lined with parchment, and buttered again and floured. Leave some overhang on the parchment so the cake can just be lifted out when cooled. The cake can then be cut into neat squares.
Posted in 
Tags:
Have you tried, on a similar theme, Anna del Conte’s apple cake, or the Nigella variation, the apple and walnut cake? Nigella’s is out of Domestic Goddess; I am unsure about the del Conte one, as my recipe is on a newspaper clipping of unknown provenance. Anyway– a lovely, though more rustic, variation of the above, with the benefit of being useful for occasions when one has visitors with dairy allergies, as the olive or walnut oil takes over from the butter.
Excellent. I’ll have to look it up in Domestic Goddess. I was also thinking about what the addition of a little corn meal might do… there’s so little flour and it’s still so moist… might be good to get a little more tooth to the batter. We may have to revisit this. Oh, and come Meyer lemon season, I’m going to dig out your screed on those *#$&ing tarts.
Finally, a way to solve a problem like Maria!
Have you tried this with something like apricots or damsons? (hint, hint)
I was thinking the slight acidity would hold up well…
I did the olive oil cake with plums– a bit extra moist, but lovely nonetheless. Now THAT is where the addition of cornmeal to soak up some juices might be helpful…
Warn me before the M’Lemons come a-callin’. There may be readers who had Bile Pie, and will need to be protected from flashbacks.
In the oven right now…it took all my power not to add cinnamon or nutmeg!