Applecake

Apfelkuchen! There, it needed to be said. How does one take the most simple of ingredients and, with equally simple preparation, produce the most delightfully down-to-earth treat ever? Apfelkuchen, or Applecake, is the answer.

With the plethora of apples spilling over the shelves of any market you go to at this time of year, and their rainbow of colors and patterns, we have been seduced into making all sorts of treats. Whether it's apple pancakes (see our previous post), apple crisp, quartered apples smeared with peanut butter, overnight muesli with fresh apples, or just sinking your teeth into a crisp, juicy, sweet or tart, flavorful (insert your favorite kind of) apple, we're on it!

This recipe was so quick to throw together and was met with such great reviews that Jen is considering throwing it into the Thanksgiving mix this year... And you know we take these decisions pretty seriously.

So you start with three bowls. One small one to mix together the brown sugar and butter topping - don't forget to bring your butter to room temperature in advance! (Bonus: If you are avoiding dairy you can totally use Earth Balance, or your dairy-free butter of choice, and almond milk. Voila!) One medium bowl for your eggs and milk. One large bowl (or oversized measuring cup) for your dry ingredients.

We like to keep in mind, the simpler the recipe, the more important the quality of ingredients. Which is really a win-win situation.

We reduced the amount of sugar called for by 2/3 cups, since we had sweet apples instead of tart and we like the flavor of our awesome ingredients to take center-stage over the sugar. We were a bit concerned, with the science of baking and all, that the texture might suffer.... We actually considered that this might be our first fail. But fail, we did not!

It certainly helped a lot in the preparation process that Jen has this crazy contraption that peels and slices apples all in one whirl (Tara will have one someday too, see the video on our sauerkraut recipe and prepare to be amazed), but grab a friend and a couple of paring knives and we're sure that part of the prep process will fly by with good conversation.

Once you've mixed the wet ingredients into the dry, you'll find that it is a pretty thick batter that needs to be spread evenly with a spatula, and that's ok. Then, if you are as OCD as we are, you will lay out your apple slices in a perfect mosaic pattern and realize you have way too many apples for that and dump the rest on, spreading evenly with your spatula. Last, dot your very moist, not crumbly and dry at all, topping all over the top.

The recipe suggests to eat this warm out of the oven, and we are not arguing. But this is a fairly large cake, good for a crowd, and if there are four of you it is likely you will have leftovers. Eat them for breakfast. Yes, we're serious. This is a sturdy, pastry-like cake and with our reduction in sugar it is perfectly but not overly sweet. Great for dessert AND breakfast (or lunch!), as Rob and GK would attest to. Go on, ask them!

We also had a moment of thinking that the delicious sour cream sauce from the apple pancakes would be sooo good with this cake. Not that it needs anything else. But come on, that sauce?!

Oh, one last thing... We used vanilla almond milk, which was divine. It is completely acceptable to use any plain milk of your choosing, but we strongly suggest throwing in a teaspoon of vanilla extract or scraping some vanilla beans into the mix. We think that flavor really took it over the top and the recipe might be a bit plain without it.

Happy mixing!