Apple cake on a shortcrust base

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Today I want to share a very simple recipe for a mandatory Autumn dessert. This time we'll prepare flavourful apple cake that will fill our houses with pleasant cinnamon aroma.


Buttery shortcrust cake is the ideal base for juicy, lightly cinnamon apple filling. We're using sour apples today which makes the whole dessert not too sweet, quite the opposite - it's refreshing and perfectly balanced. A very simple dessert that you can sere up with your favourite extras!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (for a 23 cm circular baking tin)

Filling

  • 1.6 kg apples (before peeling)
  • 60 g sugar
  • 1 heaped tsp cinnamon 

Shortcrust base

  • 300 g (~2 cups) wheat flour
  • 100 g (~1/2 cup) sugar
  • 200 g butter
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla paste
  • 1 egg

Method

  1. Rinse and peel around 1.6 kg apples. Grate them on a coarse grater. Sour varieties, such as granny smith, will work best. If you only have sweet fruits at hand, you can use them, but consider adding less sugar during cooking.
  2. Once you've peeled all the apples transfer them into a large pot and add 60 g fine white sugar as well as 1 heaped tsp cinnamon. Stir through the contents of the pot until sugar dissolves and cinnamon gets distributed in apples. Stew the mixture until apples soften up and their juices stop gathering in the bottom of the pot. Consider using a pot that's as wide as possible for largest evaporation surface.  It ma y take around 30 minutes, so be patient and stir apples from time to time to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once juice evaporates take pot off heat, transfer its contents into a medium bowl and set aside to cool.
  3. Put 300 g all-purpose flour and 100 g fine white sugar into large bowl. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly with a whisk, until sugar gets distributed in flour.
  4. Add 200 g cold cubed butter into dry ingredients and rub it into flour with a confectionery knife until it resembles wet sand. If you don't have a confectionery knife, use a regular knife, kitchen robot or your fingertipes. Be careful not to warm up the fat too much.
  5. Once you've got the right texture add 1 large beaten egg and 1.5 tsp vanilla paste to the dough. If you don't have vanilla paste, you can also use vanilla extract or vanilla sugar. In the last case add it to flour earlier, along with regular sugar. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly with a wooden spoon, only until flour absorbs all moisture. Start kneading dough by hand next, until it absorbs most flour. Transfer dough onto a worktop then and knead it shortly until it becomes quite smooth and uniform.
  6. Shape dough into a small log and divide it in roughly 2:1 ratio. Wrap the smaller piece tightly with plastic wrap and put it into a freezer for around 1 hour. Tear the larger piece into smaller ones and arrange them in the bottom of a baking tin, 23 cm in diameter, lined with baking paper. Try to do it as evenly as possible. It will be important later on during baking.
  7. Prick the base densely with a fork across the whole surface. It will let steam escape during baking. That will help prevent air pockets from forming and bursting. Put the baking tin into a fridge for 30 minutes until dough cools down and firms up.
  8. prebake the base in an oven preheated to 180 deg C, no fan, for 10-12 minutes, until it becomes lightly golden at the edges. Take the base out of the oven then and put it aside for 5 minutes.
  9. Transfer cool stewed apples onto the shortcrust base next and spread them evenly across the surface. Scatter second part of the dough on top of apple layer. I recommend grating it onto a separate plate first, on a coarse grater.
  10. Bake the apple cake in an oven preheated to 180 deg C, no fan, for around 40 minutes, until the top becomes beautiful and golden. If it gets brown too quickly, you can cover it with a piece of baking paper. Take the cake out of the oven after 40 minutes.
  11. You can serve the apple cake warm, for example along vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or cooled down and decorated with icing sugar.
  12.  Enjoy! 

Approximate nutritional value 

100 g 

  • 289 kcal
  • Carbs: 32 g 
  • Fat: 12 g
  • Protein: 3 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

1 slice (recipe makes 12 slices)

  • 303 kcal
  • Carbs: 41 g 
  • Fat: 15 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

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