French Apple Cake
I was thumbing through my recipes to use up some apples that had been sitting on my kitchen countertop uneaten. I had a recipe for Scandanavian Apple Cake but then I came across this recipe from David Lebovitz. It’s adapted from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. And I’ve adapted David’s recipe a bit more.
The cake is very easy to make. You probably have all the ingredients on hand and you don’t need much of each ingredient. That said, the quantity of the batter is relatively small. So if you have a hand mixer, use it. A stand mixer is probably overkill, but that’s all I have.
What You’ll Need to Make French Apple Cake
I used cake flour here but it’s not really necessary for this recipe. All-purpose flour works just as well.
How to Make French Apple Cake
Preheat the oven the 350F.
Cut out a parchment paper round and line the bottom of a springform pan.
Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl. If you are using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt here (about 1/8 tsp).
Use a hand mixer to cream the sugar and butter but if you don’t have one, use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Add eggs one at a time until completely incorporated.
Add the vanilla and rum. The rum does impart flavor to the cake but if you must omit it, you can compensate with an additional teaspoon or two of vanilla.
Make sure your apples are chopped by this point.
Add the flour one spoon at a time until completely mixed.
Fold in the chopped apples using a spatula.
Pour onto the center of the prepared springform pan.
Push the mixture out towards the edges.
Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.
Run a blunt knife along the edge to release the cake from the walls of the springform pan, open the clamp and remove the sidewall.
Allow the cake to cool.
Serve at room temperature with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar or serve warm with a scoop of ice cream. 
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the flour and baking powder mix.
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp good quality rum. I use Bacardi Gold or 1873 Extra Dry Puerto Rican Rum. Recommended but omit if you must.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 large Honeycrisp apples. Peeled and chopped into 3/4 inch chunks.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven the 350F.
- Cut out a parchment paper round and line the bottom of a springform pan.
- Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl. If you are using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the bowl (about 1/8 tsp).
- Peel and chopped the apples.
- Use a hand mixer to cream the sugar and butter but if you don’t have one, use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Add eggs one at a time until completely incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and rum.
- Add the flour one spoon at a time until completely mixed.
- Fold in the chopped apples using a spatula.
- Pour onto the center of the prepared springform pan and push the mixture out towards the edges.
- Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until a inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.
- Run a blunt knife along the edge to release the cake from the walls of the springform pan and open the clamp.
- Allow the cake to cool further.
- Cool completely or you can also serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream.
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
Ginny’s Recipe Collection provides nutritional breakdowns for informational purposes only. The data on this site has not been evaluated and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The data is calculated using an online 3rd party nutritional calculator. Therefore these figures should be considered as estimates only. Online calculators may yield different results based on their own nutritional fact databases and algorithms they use. Furthermore, varying factors such as product types, adjustment of seasonings, natural variation in produce, and the manner in which they are processed may affect the final nutritional information. To get the most accurate analysis, please consult a registered dietician.
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