Like cake with your apples? You'll love Dutch Apple Cake! Starring loads of cinnamon-sugared green apple slices on a thin cake layer. This is teatime done right.
This is very much an apple-first-and-cake-after kind of cake for those of you who claim ‘not to love cake’. The cake layer (which is very lovely) serves as the vessel. It transports many apple slices, strewn with sugar and cinnamon to your mouth.
What’s so good about Dutch Apple Cake?
- perfect tea-cake. Cuppa in one hand, cake slice in the other
- slices nicely and isn’t crumbly. Great for picnics and lunchboxes!
- looks pretty. you can see exactly what kind of cake it is 🍏
- so much apple! Surely this counts as a bonafide serving of fruit?
- fresh, zingy apple on top of (not hidden in) cake. A party in your mouth.
- crispy, caramelised cake between and around apple rows. Soft cake underneath
🥘 Ingredients
Nothing fancy. All the usual suspects - butter, flour, sugar. Of note:
Raising agents - self-raising flour, baking powder, egg. Plenty of lift is required here to overcome the weight of the apples. A relatively high oven setting helps too.
Granny Smith apples - these green apples work best here. They're not overly sweet and they retain good texture when cooked
🔪 Instructions
No specialist equipment needed. No need to cream butter and sugar; we use melted butter for the batter.
We combine the wet ingredients. We combine the dry ingredients. We keep wet and dry separate until the apple and topping is prepared and we're ready to roll. The lift of the cake is maximised the quicker we can get it in a hot oven after combining the batter. Follow the step-by-step instructions in the recipe card below.
The wet ingredients get shaken up in a jam jar
Any recipe where you can shake up wet ingredients in a screw-top jar is a winner - quick and easy! Plus, it justifies the hoarding of way too many Bonne Maman jam jars 😛. We combine melted (and cooled) butter, egg and milk. Please make sure the egg and milk are at room temperature. You risk getting scrambled egg or solidified butter otherwise. And PLEASE make sure you screw the jam jar lid on tight!
The dry ingredients are sieved together. This serves to mix them and incorporate air for a lighter cake
We fold the batter just enough so that no dry bits remain. We want to preserve all the wonderful bubbles of air that are created when the dry raising agents in the flour and baking powder are activated by the moisture in the egg and milk.
Did I do something wrong? The batter is such a thin layer!
I guarantee that the first time you make this you’ll think it’s never going to work. The amount of batter seems ridiculously little. Have faith; this batter grows a lot. You can see all the bubbles of air in it. The self-raising flour, baking powder and egg all work to give it this lift. Despite the weight of the apples too.
Slice the apples as uniformly thin as you can. Arrange them as you like - rows or columns.
Brush the top with melted butter for colour and flavour. Sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar.
The cake batter rises during cooking and bulges around the apple rows. This exposed batter gets covered in a dark caramel as the cinnamon sugar melts in the hot oven. The 'naked' parts of the cake get crisp and caramelised. This gives great contrast to the soft inside.
If you love fruity sweet treats, try my Raspberry Oat Bites. Half a kilo of fruit masquerading as dessert in bite-size form. Perfect for picnics and lunchboxes too!
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Baking dish, 30x20cm (or equivalent)
Ingredients
- 30 g butter
- extra butter
- 165 g self-raising flour
- teaspoon baking powder
- 80 g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 120 ml whole milk
Topping
- 25 g granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 500 g Granny Smith apples (about 4 medium)
- 20 g butter
Instructions
- Preheat Oven - to 180°C
- Butter - melt directly into a heatproof screw-top jar (without the lid). Allow it to cool slightly30 g butter
- Prepare Dish - generously grease the base and sides well with butter. Line the base and up two opposite sides with baking paper. Leave some overhang for easier removal of the baked cakeextra butter
- Dry Ingredients - weigh the flour, baking powder and sugar directly into a sieve over a large bowl165 g self-raising flourteaspoon baking powder80 g caster sugar
- Wet Ingredients - to the melted butter, add the egg and milk. Put the lid on tight and shake until blended. Keep separate from the dry ingredients for now while you prep your apple slices1 egg120 ml whole milk
- Cinnamon Sugar - combine the sugar and cinnamon together well so that it becomes an even colour25 g granulated sugar¼ teaspoon ground cinnamonpinch salt
- Prep Apple - cut each apple in quarters. Closely peel off the skin using a small sharp knife. Cut out the core and cut very thin slices (about 2mm thick). Try to keep the slices grouped together in order for easier arranging later500 g Granny Smith apples
- Melt Butter - in the microwave and set aside20 g butter
- Combine Batter - shake up the jar again. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry. Fold gently with a silicone spatula until no dry bits remain (try not to overwork)
- Spread Batter - dollop batter into the prepared baking dish. Using a wet spatula, spread out into an even thin layer
- Apple Layers - pick up a sliced apple quarter. Drag the slices slightly apart so that it becomes a flattened layer of slices. You can be as OCD as you like with this - you might want to make there is the same distance between each slice. You may choose not to include smaller pieces of apple. It will taste good however you arrange your apples.
- Topping - brush the butter over the apple slices and any exposed batter. Sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar
- Bake - for about 40 minutes (turning the baking dish halfway though). A skewer/thin knife inserted at a slant through the middle of the cake should come out clean. The sugar on the top will have melted. Allow dish to cool on a cooling rack before loosening around the non baking paper-lined sides. Lift out the cake by pulling the baking paper overhangs away from each other
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