I love different kinds of apple cake. This apple cake is so simple to mix, either with a hand or stand mixer, that you’ll have it in the oven in 10 minutes or less. Apples are so plentiful in the autumn season and so good for you…well, maybe not in cake, but we’ll make an exception.
Jump to RecipeAs is my usual practice, I find a recipe that looks interesting and then create my own version. Most apple cakes consist of making a cake and laying the apples on top of the batter in a pretty arrangement.
This recipe mixes the apples right into the batter. I diced one apple into small pieces and grated the second apple. It probably took me longer to peel and prepare the apples than mixing the whole cake batter.
It’s tradition
My recipe is based on a traditional Italian cake. As the saying goes, “Every Nonna has an apple cake recipe.” Individualize this recipe with different spices, all diced apples, all grated apples, or a fruit mix like apples and pears. Add some finely chopped nuts. It’s so simple, I promise! It’s my new traditional apple cake on our homestead.
I remind you, Make cooking fun!
I tend to use a thermometer to check for when it’s done, rather than the “insert a knife, and it should come out clean” concept. I just find its’ easier to know a cake or bread is done when it reaches 190-195*F.
The Process
A bundt or tube pan will work best for cooking it, though an 8 “or 9” tall cake pan or Charlotte pan would also work. Bundt pans come in so many pretty designs now. I used a Nordic Ware Magnolia pan. It would be nice to use the Very Merry pan for Christmas. Or the Harvest Leaves or Pumpkin Patch pan for fall. Of course, a plain Bundt pan works just fine. Use what you’ve got, or invest in something new for a special occasion.
The sugar and egg get creamed together for a couple of minutes – long enough to dissolve some of the sugar and make the mix a little lighter in color. Then, all the wet ingredients are added in and mixed, and lastly, the dry ingredients. Apples are folded in last. Spray the cake pan well with baking spray or grease it to ensure it comes out when inverted. Let the cake set for at least 30 minutes to cool and firm up before removing it. This will prevent it from falling apart.
As a side note, the original recipe called for all-purpose flour; I use half (1 1/2 cups) cake flour to give the final product a finer crumb but use plain old AP if that’s all you’ve got.
And the final result looks like this:
Italian Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 2 apples
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 egg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cup milk
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Powder sugar for dusting
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 * F. Peel and dice one apple. Peel and grate the other apple. Place in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and zest.
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Beat the egg and sugar together for 2 minutes until lightened yellow. Mix in the milk, oil, vanilla, almond, and nutmeg until well-mixed and uniform. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add them to the mix. Fold in the apples.
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Pour into a greased bundt pan or round cake pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until internal temperature reaches 190*F
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Let sit and cool for half an hour before inverting onto a platter or cake dish. Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar.