In the kitchen with Elisa
Soft & Flavourful Apple Cake
Spiced moist sour cream cake with apples
Apple a day keeps the doctor away. Does it count if it's in a form of an apple cake? :)​
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I ​love apples and it rarely happens that I don't have any apples at home. I tend to buy them whenever I go food shopping, just to enjoy like that for a healthy snack, to add some fruit to my salads or for baking. When I think about it, apples must be the fruit that I eat the most throughout the whole year.
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When I bake I usually ​prefer and try to use the better quality products, whether that is the simple things like butter and cream or the fruit and berries that I use. However, I am also a fan of keeping the costs down where I can and that is why I think apples are so great for baking. They are a budget fruit and they are good for so many different things. You can bake them into a cake like with this recipe, you can make a filling with them or use them fresh. I don't know about you, but I think the apple is pretty magical even in its simplicity :)
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While planning this recipe I wanted to make something that would be easy and fast to make, would use the ingredients that are easily available, but that would still taste amazing. This is definitely not your traditional apple cake, it is made a bit like the apple sheet cakes here in Germany, but the addition of sour cream makes it super soft and moist, the addition of cardamom and cinnamon gives it some amazing flavour and the crunchy crumble on top with almonds adds that lovely crunch. I mean do I really need to say more? :)
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I tested this recipe a coule of times and also took some cake with me to work for my colleagues. Everybody loved it and I got a lot of good reviews, both from my colleagues and from my family. So even if for you this is a new recipe, I can tell you that it has already a lot of good reviews and I am sure if you will give it a go you will also love it :)
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Enjoy it as it is, with some Vanilla Sauce, vanilla ice cream or sour cream. Whichever you choose, it's going to taste YUM! Happy Baking Lovelies!
Step by Step Video
RECIPE
Soft & Flavourful Apple Cake
Spiced moist sour cream cake with apples
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​INGREDIENTS
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100g (½ cup) softened butter
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100g (½ cup) sugar
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2 eggs
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200g (1 2/3 cup)flour
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1tsp baking powder
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½ tsp baking soda
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2-3 cardamom pods or about ¼ tsp ground cardamom
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130g (½ cup) sour cream (20% fat content)
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about 3 small sweet apples
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30g (about 2 tbsp) cold butter
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30g (about 2 tbsp) sugar
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50g (about 1/3 cup) flour
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½ tsp ground cinnamon
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handful slivered almonds (optional)
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DIRECTIONS
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Cream the softened butter with the sugar in a medium bowl for a couple of minutes with a hand mixer or a standing mixer until soft and pale.
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Add eggs one at a time, mixing for about a minute between each addition.
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If you are using cardamom pods, peel the pods and grind the seeds into powder with a spice grinder or in a pestle and mortar.
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In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients.
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Sieve about 1/3 of the dry ingredient into the eggs and butter and mix shortly, then add about half of the sour cream and mix again. Repeat until you have used up everything.
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Spread the batter evenly into a square 23cm x 23cm baking form. Wash the apples, deseed and slice them into thick slices. Arrange the apple pieces over the batter pressing them in almost completely.
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To make the crumble, combine cold butter, sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl and mix shortly with your hands just until the crumble forms. Optionally you can pulse all the ingredients in a food processor.
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Sprinkle the crumble topping and the slivered almonds over the apples.
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Bake the cake in 175°C bottom top heat at the middle shelf of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is golden from the top. Test with a wooden skewer that the cake is baked through before removing it from the oven.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before removing the cake form. Then allow the cake to cool completely before serving.
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TIP. For a naughty treat, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top or with some vanilla sauce.
