French Apple Cake

Baked this French Apple Cake last night using the heart shaped spring form pan but the result is not very satisfying. Taste wise, this cake is as good as how David Lebovitz has described in his blog. But as you can see from the photo at the bottom below, it probably need less than the 45 minutes which I have taken to bake it. The top was a bit over-baked.

This cake is featured in Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.  She named it French Apple Cake simply because it was her French friend who first made for her. It is a relatively easy to assemble cake and the most distinctive character of this cake is it uses little flour, only slightly more than 100g, barely enough to coat the apple cubes. The whole house was filled with rum-vanilla scent while the cake was still being baked in the oven. I was so afraid the kids will wake up from their sleep because of the delicious smell :P

We had the cake for our breakfast this morning. It was so moist and yummy despite it un-appetising appearance. The texture is less cakey but more custardy and you get to chew of loads of soft, moist  apple in every bite. I will certainly bake this again. And since this cake is so yummy, I am gonna to submit this post to "Aspring Bakers #4: Love in the air! (Feb 2011)" hosted by Cuisine Paradise at this link HERE

Recipe for French Apple Cake

Ingredients:

110g all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

4 large apples of any choice

2 large eggs, at room temperature

85g fruit sugar (original: 150g sugar)

3/4 teaspoon rum paste (original: 3 tablespoons dark rum)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

a handful of berries (blueberries and blackberries)

Methods:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree C.  Butter an 8-inch spring form pan and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Sift and whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
3. Peel the apples, core and cut them into small cubes.
4. In a clean mixing bowl, beat the eggs with until they’re foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk to blend.
5. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that the batter is thick but smooth. (you can either use a hand whisk or mixer up till this steps).
6. Use a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, gently turn them so that they are all coated with batter. I also throw in some blueberries and blackberries that I didn't use up in my last bake (Berry Friands).
7. Scrape the mix into the pan and use the spatula to spread evenly.
8. Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until you can see that the top of the cake is golden brown, test the doneness by inserting a knife deep into the centre. It should come out clean and the cake should pull away slightly from the sides of the pan too.
9. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then gently transfer the cake out from the pan to the cooling rake.