September 05, 2021

Leontine’s Apple Cake


 Makes 24 sm cake

9 tablespoon (125 g) butter, softened

2/3 cup (250 g ) raw (demerara) sugar

1 egg

250 g (9 oz/1⅔ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cooking apples (such as rennet or golden delicious), about 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) in total

pouring (whipping) cream, for serving

pinch of ground cinnamon

icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting


Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F/Gas 3). Butter and flour a round 24 cm (9½ inch) spring form cake tin (I used a rectangle one).

Using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar in a bowl and then beat in the egg. Mix in the flour, baking powder and vanilla, switching to mix with your hands when it gets too stiff. Knead briefly to incorporate everything.

Put about two-thirds of the dough in the prepared tin. Press it firmly over the bottom and two-thirds of the way up the side. Peel the apples, quarter and core them and chop into pieces of about 2 cm (¾ inch). Put the apples over the crust and even them out, checking there are no gaps. Crumble the rest of the pastry evenly over the apples in nice big crumbly bits. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the pastry is golden and firm. Towards the end, cover the top with a sheet of foil if it looks like over-browning. Remove from the oven and cool.

Whip the cream to soft peaks, scattering in the cinnamon. Dust the cake with icing sugar and serve with the cinnamon cream.


Recipe comes from "Recipes and Dreams from an Italian Life" by Tessa Kiros

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