Leite's Super Moist Apple Cake

By stancec44

This apple cake defies description in a lot of ways, blurring the line between traditional cake that’s quite nice with a scoop of ice cream and coffee cake served straight up in the morning or, actually, any time of day. It takes its insane moistness from a swirl of cream poured over the top. And if you’d also care to experience a little textural and taste contrast within the same obscenely moist apple cake, try a combination of different types of apples. The authors suggest apples that fall within the categories of tart like Granny Smith, sweet and firm like Macintosh, and sorta especially apple-y and easy to break down, like Cortland.

Ingredients

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (6 oz), at room temperature, plus more for the pan
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch kosher salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 medium baking apples (see LC Note above), peeled, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 10-inch round, 2-inch-deep cake pan or springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl with a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and the butter until light in color, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula and continue to beat until the mixture is very light in texture and color, several minutes more.
3. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping the bowl between additions.
4. Sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Alternately add the milk and dry ingredients to the butter mixture, stopping to scrape the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and mix the batter just until smooth. Do not overbeat the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula. Arrange the apple slices on the batter, overlapping one another in concentric circles. You want to completely cover the top of the cake. Pour the cream evenly over the apples.
6. Stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture over the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven, transfer it to a wire rack, and let the cake cool completely.
7. Invert the cake onto the rack and remove the pan and the parchment paper. Then invert it once more onto a serving platter. Serve the apple cake warm or room temperature. (The cooled apple cake can be stored tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)