Dutch Apple Cake

I'm not quite sure what real Dutch Apple Cake is like! I read a recipe in a British cookery book, and have adapted it considerably myself, so this is my version (definitely not traditional).

This is a minimal recipe. At the end, I suggest some additional or substitute ingredients.

Cooking process

• Measure out the butter and sugar and . Then beat in the eggs, then the . You should end up with a soft but not runny mix. If it really is too solid, you can add a little milk, but be careful not to add too much.
  
  
• Line the bottom of the baking tin with baking paper (this is optional, but makes it a lot easier to get the cake out afterwards). into the tin, levelling it off.
  
  
• Peel the apples (use a knife if you don't have a peeler). Cut them into thin slices (I quarter them, then slice each quarter into three). Lay them on top of the cake mix in the tin. Whether you do it in a pretty pattern or not is up to you!
  
  
• Melt the butter (for the top of the cake). Brush the melted butter over the apples. This is to stop them drying up in the oven. There should be enough melted butter to just cover all the exposed apple. If you don't have a pastry brush, then dribble the melted butter over instead, and smear it over the apples with your fingers. Sprinkle over the . When it's cooking, this sugar and butter will combine to make a toffee taste.
  
  
• Put the tin in the oven. This needs to cook for about 45 minutes. At the end, the cake should be risen and brown.
  
  

Other ideas

Some of the following ingredients are possible variations.

• You can treat this as a cake or a pudding. So you can eat it with tea or coffee, or with custard, or cream, or ice cream. Or just by itself. You can also eat it hot or cold.
  
  
• The apples can be cookers (like Bramleys) or eaters. I've suggested using two apples. Apples vary a lot in size, so the amount is really up to you. You could even use one small apple, and put complete rings of apple on top, as a decoration. I prefer a rather more substantial amount of apple myself.
  
  
• I like adding spice to this. I add it to the cake mix, when creaming the butter and sugar. I use a teaspoon of cinnamon, and perhaps a little nutmeg. A very small amount of ground cloves might set off the apple, but be careful - cloves are quite strong.
  
  
• You can use margarine instead of butter. The base is a sponge, so you could use any light cake recipe as the base, such as one using oil.
  
  
• I cook this in a square tin, and I give the dimensions. If you cook it in a larger or smaller tin, you may need to change the cooking time, and possibly the amounts as well. I use a square tin because that means I can cut it into chunks easier. This is not really a delicate cake to cut into slices. But you can obviously use any type of tin you want. It is a flattish cake, though. The apples sink partly into the cake mix while cooking. I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to cook it in a loaf tin. The apple pieces might sink all the way to the bottom, or they might stay at the top, leaving dull cake beneath.
  
  

Due to several apple trees in my garden, and therefore a lot of apples to get through, I have tried adapting this recipe in various ways. One way is to use a loaf tin, and use half the mount of cake mix and a lot of apples, perhaps as many as 5 or 6 (especially if small). I start with a layer of apple, then the cake mix, then more apple on top, really piled up, and then push the apple into the mix. It still works! The apple is (just) held together with the cake.

I have tried a different way of making the cake mix. I melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir until mixed, then the flour, then the egg. It ends up quite runny, but still works, and doesn't need a mixer, or soft butter (or rubbing in). Also, I don't brush the apple with melted buuter. Instead I sprinkle some sugar on top. This seems to stop the apple going too brown.

Last experiment, making small apple cakes, with just one small piece of apple of top. (And ate the rest of the apple raw...)



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© Jo Edkins 2007 -