[VIDEO] Simply Apple Cake

By SweetnSpicyLiving on October 16, 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

A simple Apple Cake but perfect in every way. Soft cake crumb, nicely cracked and browned top, creamy and buttery taste, just the right sweetness and a decent amount of bits and pieces of fresh diced 🍏 Apple. It’s a cozy easy dessert that you can make in just 1 hr. Give it a try.

This cake made me feel so accomplished .. not because it was difficult to make but because my friend who doesn’t like eating desserts with Apple fell in love with this cake. When she asked me what it was, I was worried that she did not like it. I knew from the start that she did not like dessert with Apple, but I gambled anyway and served it to her for dessert. It was worth it as she love it so much. She willingly took it home with and and cannot stop raving about it. That kind of appreciation makes it worth it for me to bake something and share it with friends. It gives me so much joy.

Flowers from my garden: Lupin, Marigold, Zinnia, Aster, Sweet Pea, Gloriosa Daisy

You can make this cake anytime of the year. One good thing about Apple is it is available all year-round. Just for some reason, when Fall season arrives, I am drawn to bake Apple and Pumpkin desserts, I guess its the warm Fall spices that we add in these desserts that make it cozy and comforting, just exactly what we need when cold rainy or snowy weather starts. But even if it is not Fall, these desserts are still something that you can bake anytime of the year.

Fall and Winter are the cozy time of the year for me. The cold weather make staying at home really nice, just another reason to love Fall, not to mention the Fall autumn colors. The vibrant shades of orange, yellow, brown are just so lovely to look at, look at these flowers. These flowers are all from my garden. I started gardening this year and I cannot express how happy I am with the outcome of my new hobby. The garden just keeps on giving, from fresh produce to vibrant beautiful flowers. These flowers are mix of Marigold, Gloriosa Daisy, Lupin, Aster, Sweet Pea and Zinnias. Their vibrant colors are just perfect to welcome Fall so I thought why not use it for the blog.

So How Should I Describe This Apple Cake?

First of all, let’s chat about how to make it. Only one word, simple. Yes, this recipe is very simple and easy to make, any beginner in baking could totally make this. Watch the video and see how simple it is to make this cake
Now the texture of this cake. It is soft and moist. The small bits of diced Apple helped produced a really nice soft crumb. I love how the top is nicely browned and almost cracked, it adds appeal to the cake. You can easily eat 2 sliced of this cake. It is a light cake, perfect for tea time, dessert and even breakfast
What about the taste? The cake is just the right sweetness with the light crumbs from using cake flour. There is no over powering flavor. The Apple taste is just perfect, the small bits of Apple almost melted and blended with the cake making the cake moist.

What are the Ingredients for Apple Cake

Butter – use softened unsalted butter. It is very important that the butter is soft but not melted. I leave mine on the counter overnight when I am making this for breakfast or at least 30 minutes when I am making it mid-day. It could be more or less depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Caster Sugar – this is similar to granulated sugar, but finer in texture. No need to buy it, if you have. Good processor at home, simply process it until the texture is fine. Alternatively, you can use granulated sugar if you do not have caster sugar.
Eggs – room temperature eggs means do not use egg straight out from the refrigerator. Since we are creaming there Butter, sugar and egg, it is important that the egg is not cold. Leave it in the counter for at least 39 minutes or submerge it in warm water for 10 minutes
Pure Vanilla Extract – for flavoring. You can also use lemon or orange zest if you are fine with citrus flavor
Cake Flour – cake flour has the lowest amount of protein among all other types of flour. This means it will produce a lighter crumb cake. If you do not have one, all-purpose flour will work too with slight difference in texture
Salt – a small amount goes a long way, so don’t skip. I used table salt, this means the fine salt
Baking Powder – this is the leavening agent that will make Cake rise
Apple – I used Gala Apple, Granny Smith work too
Demerara Sugar – Demerara sugar have large granules which makes the top nicely browned and slightly crunchy. You can also use granulated sugar

How to Make Apple Cake

Peel and Dice the Apple – I used 1 small Gala Apple and cut them quite small, this almost make it blend with the cake batter
Cream the Butter, Sugar and Egg – softened butter and room temperature eggs are a MUST when creaming. Room temperature ingredients are easier to blend together
Add Dry Ingredients – sift the cake flour, salt and baking powder. Sifting is important for two reasons. It removes the lumps from Cake flour and it aerate the flour and helps produce a light crumb cake
Mix in the diced Apple – I used Gala Apple, which I personally find a better option because it has a sweeter taste, and softer texture. You can
Top with Sugar – Sprinkling of sugar on top produces nice browning and lightly crunchy too
Bake – 350F is what you are working with. It took me 40 minutes. Every oven is a bit different so this could be +/- 5 minutes. Toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean
Cool – Cooling improves the texture, so give it at least 15 – 30 minutes before slicing
Enjoy! – I don’t have to say this, because for sure you will Enjoy eating it. Thanks to Apron for this recipe.

Small Batch Apple Cake By SweetnSpicyLiving

Tips in Making Apple Cake

Use Room Temperature Butter: This means softened butter, soft but not greasy or oily. Leave the butter on the counter at least 1 hour before using it. If your kitchen it hot and humid, check at 30 minutes. You don’t want it to get to the point that it starts to melt. Softened butter is key when doing the creaming process between butter and sugar. Softened butter creams easily, air is introduced into the mixture making it light and fluffy.
Use Room Temperature Egg: Takeout the egg from the refrigerator the same time you takeout the butter. You can also submerge the egg in warm water for 10 minutes if you forget to take it out. Room temperature egg mix well with the other ingredients.
Use Caster Sugar: Caster sugar are similar to granulated white sugar only it has a finer texture which makes it dissolve easily when creamed with the butter. To make your own, simply process your granulated sugar in food processor of food chopper. If you decide to use granulated sugar, just pay attention to the texture of the mixture. Test a small portion and rub it between your fingers to feel if there are still undissolved sugar.
Use Cake Flour: Although you can use all-purpose flour, cake flour produces a lighter cake crumb. This is because cake flour have lower protein content responsible for gluten formation. The next best option to cake flour is pastry flour, which is basically a mixture of cake flour and all-purpose flour. But if you can find cake flour, stick with it I get the same texture that you see in the photo
Sift the Dry Ingredients: Sifting aerates the flour, thus producing a lighter cake crumb
Sprinkle Sugar on Top: If you want to achieve a nice browning of the top, sprinkle sugar on top

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted Butter – softened at room temperature
1/3 cup Caster Sugar
2 Egg – room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
12 tablespoon Cake Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 small Apple – diced
1 tablespoon Demerara Sugar

Substitution

Unsalted Butter – substitute with Salted Butter Bur remove the salt in the recipe
Vanilla Extract – substitute with Lemon or Orange Zest, Almond Extract
Caster Sugar – substitute with granulated sugar
Cake Flour – substitute with All-purpose flour
Demerara Sugar – substitute with granulated sugar

Substitution will have a slight difference in texture of the cake

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center. Grease a 7-inch round pan with nonstick and line with parchment paper.
Cut and Dice the Apple – Peel the Apple and cut into a small cubes
Mix Wet Ingredients: In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Beat in egg one at a time, it may curdle a little bit at this point, don’t worry about it, it will adjust once you add the dry ingredients. Add vanilla extract and mix until just distributed.
- Tip# 1: Use softened butter for easy creaming. Take the butter out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before using it or leave it overnight on the counter. The butter should be soft, but not greasy when touch.
Mix Dry Ingredients: Onto the wet ingredients, sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt.
- Tip# 2: Sifting the flour while adding it to the butter mixture will help the cake have a lighter texture and will also make the mixing easier thus avoiding over mixing. So don’t just dump the dry ingredients all at once.
Add diced Apple and mix until just combined. Do not over mix
Pour Batter into prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the top.
Sprinkle top with Sugar – Sprinkle sugar on top for a nice browning
Bake cake for 40 minutes or until the cake springs back lightly when touched, the sides have begun to pull away from the pan, and a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool: Allow loaf to cool completely in pan before cutting
Dust with confectioners sugar on top