APPLE SLICES CAKE

October 16, 2019

Filled with juicy and tender apples, this cake is incredibly delicious and only needs 5 main ingredients to make. Serve it warm or at room temperature, with slightly sweetened whipped cream, or on a hot day, with some ice cream.

With warmer temperatures fruit matures quicker, and that’s what happened to a couple of apples I had, leaving me with “no alternative” but to use them on a dessert (I have to admit that is one of the reasons I most often use as an excuse to try a new recipe...)

This cake, with more apples than truly cake batter, is a healthy, simple and moist delight where we can use more than a variety of apples.

The ingredients

This cake is one of those simple that only takes 5 ingredients, and that can easily be found in any pantry:

Apples - It is important to use firm-fleshed apples that won't turn into an almost puree consistency when cooked (so Reinette apples, for example, are definitely no good!). The type of apple will not only determine the consistency of this golden apple cake, as you will see the layers made by the fruit slices, but will also influence the taste - tart or sweet, or both. Both times I made this recipe I used four or five medium Golden apples, and another time also a mixture of Golden and Fuji.
Eggs
Flour - this recipe also works very well using a gluten-free flour mix instead of wheat flour (I tried with this brand), and is especially great when apples are juicier, as gluten-free flours absorb more moisture than wheat flour. For those who want to make a paleo version of this, you can replace the amount of flour with almond flour.
Sugar
Butter or Oil - I prefer to use extra virgin coconut oil for the flavor it gives to the cake, but you can use butter, and the equivalent is about 30 grams (2 tablespoons) that should be melted.
Baking powder (if using all purpose flour)

How to make

This apple cake is very simple to make, just mix the flour with baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.
Apart, beat the egg with the butter/oil and add the zest.
Apples are sliced on the food processor, which are then well mixed in the flour mixture.
Then add the egg mixture until all is well connected and put in the pan, next bake it in the oven.
Because apple slices are so thin, they will stick together easily; it is for this reason that when mixing them with the flour, you should use your hands to separate the slices so they will be well wrapped in the flour.
The same is true when adding the moist ingredients, because if we use a spoon or fork to wrap we will also make the slices break into smaller pieces.

Slicing the apples

To finely slice apples, you may want to use a food processor that has the slicing attachment, to be faster so the apple doesn't get the chance to brown, ideally using the thinner thickness attachment, usually used to cut thin potatoes slices (as to fry).
Alternatively, you can use a mandolin, and a knife as a last resort - but it will take longer…
Whatever method is used to slice the apple, I use all of it except the peel (but whoever wants can keep the apple with the peel) and the seeds; I say this because when slicing in the food processor there are bits that get smaller or broken, but I insert them into the cake anyway, not just the whole and perfect slices.