Dorie's Apple Cake

The food world is buzzing about Dorie Greenspan's new book, "Around My French Table."  Not to be left out of the excitement the Portland Oregonian ran a very complimentary article in their Tuesday FoodDay section about Dorie and her passion for French food. Her new book emphasizes the unassuming food that Parisians cook and eat every day.  The history and traditions of many of her recipes are included in this, her 10th cookbook.

The Oregonian included Dorie's recipe for apple cake, which is more apple than cake.  There is a minimum of batter that just barely holds the apple chunks together.  Dorie suggests using several different types of apples for a rich range of apple taste and texture.


Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake...printed in the FoodDay Section of the Oregonian newspaper

•3/4 cup all-purpose flour
•3/4 teaspoon baking powder
•Pinch of salt
•4 large apples (if you can, choose 4 different kinds)
•2 eggs
•3/4 cup granulated sugar
•3 tablespoons dark rum
•1/2 teaspoon vanilla
•1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the springform on it.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1- to 2-inch chunks. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they're foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. 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 you have a smooth, rather thick batter. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it's coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it's even.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. (Open the springform slowly, and before it's fully opened, make sure there aren't any apples stuck to it.) Allow the cake to cool until it is just slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the bottom of the springform pan, wait until the cake is almost cooled, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving dish.

To be honest, I doubt I will make this cake again.  For my taste the apples need more cake batter and when the cake was done the apples were still crisp.  I don't like crisp apples in pie either, but that is just me.  Even with the best cooking apples the flavor was bland compared to other apple cake recipes I have. But it's fun to try something new and I look forward to making other recipes in her book. I browsed through "Around My French Table" at Costco yesterday and will definitely put this book on my Christmas wish list.