The farmers market closest to our house is not open year round; it closes for a few weeks in early spring. During that break last month, my husband and I walked to a market further away that we don't normally frequent. But two vendors there had beautiful Arkansas Black apples, a cultivar that I almost never see around here. I brought a bagful home and then had to decide what to make with them.
I decided to try Rachel Allen's recipe for "Swedish Apple Cake." It's a single layer cake with diced apples in the batter and sliced apples on top. To make the batter, you mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar; add two diced apples; and mix in melted butter and eggs. The recipe does not include salt, but I added a pinch. You transfer the batter to a parchment-lined 10-inch pan, lay sliced apples on top, and bake.
Instead of trying a third time, I improvised. I made a small amount of simple syrup (one fluid ounce of water and three tablespoons of sugar), and then added 25 grams of butter and some cinnamon. It worked out fine and I brushed it on the warm cake. The cinnamon in the glaze deposited quite a bit of color on the top of the cake, including on the apple slices.
While there was a lot of diced apple in the cake, I thought most of the apple flavor seemed to come from the slices on top. The cake was not as apple forward as I had hoped, but it was very good. While it was somewhat dense, it was moist, nicely spiced with cinnamon, and not too sweet. I thought it was a fine use of my special apple supply.
Recipe: "Swedish Apple Cake" from Cake by Rachel Allen.
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