Ok, remember when I said I wasn’t much of a baker? Baking is definitely more science, whereas I’m a theater kid. I have a handful of recipes I like to stick to, and I’ll vary them slightly, but I like to stick with what I know will work. Sometimes, that means making Rosh Hashana desserts well after the High Holidays!
This cake has a really delicate, runny batter that bakes up so moist it’s almost like a custard. You fold in some apples sauteed in butter and sugar to let them caramelize, and some extra cinnamon because you can. I’m also going to suggest you eat this for breakfast just because you can. And possibly because it’s the only way to get your hands on some before your self-described “not a cake person” dad eats half of it.
The recipe came from Food52, which was really an adaptation of a famous plum cake recipe. I don’t see why this batter wouldn’t also be amazing with tart-sweet juicy plums when they’re in season, and when persimmons finally arrive in our grocery stores, I’m going to try that variation. I bet strawberries would be killer, as well, especially if they’re sauteed first.
Here’s where the science comes in: in savory applications, we marinate using salt and acid to tenderize and bring out the natural juices. In sweet recipes, we can do the same thing with fruit, using sugar and an acid (usually lemon juice), and it’s called maceration. You might remember maceration from the Apple Crisp recipe.
Maceration allows the acid to break down the crisp, firm pieces while the sugars mingle with the naturally sweet fruit to create a tender bite soaked in its own syrup. And, if you don’t have the time for waiting for fruit to macerate (which can 30 minutes or more, depending on how much you’re doing), you can sauté them. Heat, along with the acid and the sugar, will help further break down and tenderize fruit! (Plus, adding the sugar to a hot pan with butter will create caramel — heat+sugar = caramel — and that’s never a bad thing to add to a dessert!)
The only liberties I took were in using HALF of a gluten-free all-purpose 1:1 flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill), and HALF almond flour (not to be confused with almond meal, which is slightly coarser and includes the skins of the raw almonds).
That said, the recipe as written on F52 was tested both with regular all-purpose wheat flour and Cup-4-Cup gluten-free flour — which, if you’re familiar with gluten-free baking challenges, means it’ll only look exactly like the photo/the author’s results if you use the exact same type of flour. And sometimes, I’m just dying to go off-script and improvise with what I’m feeling in the moment!
The cinnamon isn’t typical of Rosh Hashana recipes, either, but I feel like it’s wrong to use apples without cinnamon, so I added a smidge (maybe 1/2 tsp) to the sugar and butter in the skillet, and another 1 tsp to the dry ingredients when assembling the batter.
Below is a little slideshow of the steps, but honestly, this recipe is super easy to follow and fairly foolproof:
Peel and thinly slice apples
Melt butter in pan and add sugar (and cinnamon, if desired)
Add apples and saute until they’re soft and caramelized
While apples saute, mix dry ingredients and eggs and vanilla together
In a well-greased parchment-lined pan (I used a springform pan because it looks prettier for serving, but you could use any cake pan or glass/ceramic baking dish, too), layer half the batter, half the apples on top, then repeat
Bake, let cool a bit, then devour!
