A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an article featuring three recipes from Francine Segan's cookbook Dolci: Italy's Sweets. The "Rustic Tuscan Apple Cake" looked like an easy recipe that would be perfect for fall, so I couldn't wait to give it a try.
The cake batter itself contains no butter or oil. You make it by beating together eggs and sugar, and then adding in flour, milk, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest. You pour the batter into a pan, sprinkle on one diced apple, and then arrange three sliced apples on top. The recipe notes that while the ratio of apples to batter appears disproportionately high, the apples magically meld into the batter and in the end will float over moist, sweet cake. You scatter small pats of butter over the apples and sprinkle on one tablespoon of granulated sugar before baking.
After the cake cooled and I unmolded it from the pan, my heart sank when I cut into it and realized that it was completely uncooked in the middle. The reason that the tip of the slice pictured above has collapsed is because all of the light-colored creamy stuff under the apples is raw batter that is providing no support. I did taste the outer perimeter of the cake, which was cooked through. The cake was dry (not altogether unexpected, given the lack of butter and oil), but I did like the moist, sweet apples and the bright flavor from the lemon zest. However, the outside of the cake was so dry that I question whether it would be have been possible to bake the cake long enough to cook the center through without turning the outside into sawdust. While I'll take the blame for not testing the center of the cake for doneness, I have no interest in trying this recipe again. I love the idea of a rustic apple cake for fall, but I'm not in love with this one.
Recipe: "Rustic Tuscan Apple Cake, aka Torta di mele," from Dolci: Italy's Sweets, by Francine Segan.
The cake batter itself contains no butter or oil. You make it by beating together eggs and sugar, and then adding in flour, milk, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest. You pour the batter into a pan, sprinkle on one diced apple, and then arrange three sliced apples on top. The recipe notes that while the ratio of apples to batter appears disproportionately high, the apples magically meld into the batter and in the end will float over moist, sweet cake. You scatter small pats of butter over the apples and sprinkle on one tablespoon of granulated sugar before baking.
I used four gala apples that came in right at two pounds total, and there were so many apple slices on the cake that I could barely fit them into the pan (I used an 8-inch round pan that was two inches high). I baked the cake for 50 minutes as directed, and it was a little difficult for me to get a toothpick into the cake through all of the layers to apples to test for doneness. I tested several spots about halfway between the edge and the center, and the cake seemed to be done, so I took it out of the oven.
Recipe: "Rustic Tuscan Apple Cake, aka Torta di mele," from Dolci: Italy's Sweets, by Francine Segan.
Comments
Thanks for the heads up!