Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake

By stancec44

Ingredients

• 8 T butter (1 stick) + a bit more for the cake pan
• 3/4 cup AP flour
• 3/4 t baking powder
• 4 large apples (or 5 smalls)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 T dark rum
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• a big pinch of salt

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cut butter into big chunks and add them into a small glass bowl. Heat it in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds or so, until half of the butter chunks are melted. Remove the bowl from the microwave, stir birskly until all the butter chunks are all melted. Set the butter bowl aside.

Butter and flour the cake pan. Whisk the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl. Peel the apples, quarter, core, and then slice them into thin petals.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until pale, foamy, and thickened. When you see that the whisk begins to leave visible tracks in the batter as it beats, it’s ready. Shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes. Stop the machine, add the rum, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk again to combine. Add the flour and turn the mixer on at the lowest setting to blend in the flour. Just a few turns should do, the rest can be finished by hand.

Switch to rubber spatula, fold* in any flour clumps still visible in the batter. When the flour is fully incorporated, pour in the melted butter and continue to fold until the batter is homogenous again. Add the apple slices all at once, fold them in until all the apple chunks are coated with batter. You don’t have to be so delicate here, this batter can take it.

In the end, you’ll have a cake batter that’s more apple-y than batter-y. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Pour the apple cake batter into the buttered/floured cake pan, pressing down gently to let the apple slices settle and level a bit. You may tap the pan on the counter a couple times to let out big air pockets if there’s any.

Place the cake pan on a cookie sheet, then in the oven. Set your timer for 1 hour.