Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake

Following my little resolution to try to make seasonal bakes, I went on an apple (apple varieties are actually in abundance now if you check out the supermarkets) hunt to bake this cake. Had to locate 4 different kinds of baking apples from various supermarkets. It's kinda nerdy, but I actually enjoyed the process of researching on good baking apples. Was kinda disappointed that I didn't manage to find Honeycrisp and had to replace it with Braeburn, but nevertheless I was thrilled when I completed my set of 4. It also garnered curiosity from friends and boyfriend, "What cake is it? Why do you need so many apples?" So ladies and gentlemen, presenting Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake!

On a side note, I HAVEEE to mention this. The cake was rising in a centre for a fair bit in the oven and I was like, woops, forgotten to encircle a cake strip around the pan and felt a bit deflated for a while. When I took the cake out and inserted a knife to check if it comes out clean, the cake went pffffffffffttt like a balloon, sank down and levelled itself out. WOW.

I ripped this recipe off one of my favorite bakers' book. True enough Ms Greenspan's recipes never fail to impress. It's uber moist and rich, yet refreshing with tarty apple chunks with each bite. The caramel under note of dark rum goes perfectly with apples. You can also eat it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, yumm!
Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake (adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table)

Ingredients:
105g all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples (use 4 different kinds-I used Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady)
2 large eggs
150g sugar
3 tbsp dark rum
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
113g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and center a rack in the oven. Butter an 8 inch springform pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the springform pan on it. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
3. Peel the apples, cut them in half, and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1 to 2 inch chunks.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half of the flour mixture, when it’s incorporated, add half of the melted butter, followed by the remaining flour mixture and butter. Mix in between additions so you have a smooth, thick batter.
5. Fold in the apples with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread with spatula so the batter is somewhat even.
6. Slide the pan in the oven and bake 50-60 mins, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for five minutes.
7. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and remove from the pan. Cool cake until slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the pan, wait until the cake is completely cooled. Slide a long spatula between the cake and pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving platter.

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Was recommended this cake recipe by Bakertan. He raved about how good this cake is, so upon chancing on some rare Golden Delicious apples at NTUC, I decided to give it a shot. This is my first upside down cake. Have been seeing these cake recipes in my baking books but didn't have the courage to try them. But guess I gotta break off the cookie-brownie-muffin baking stint and progress further. Also pretty excited to announce that I open ceremony-ed my expensive $26 silicone spatula for this recipe!! /sword fights with spatula

Think I underbaked the cake a little, could use a few more minutes in the oven. But nevertheless, the cake was superb in texture - moist yet light, giving the melt-in-your-mouth sensation upon hitting your tongue. The undertone sweetness of warm brown sugar caramel marries tartiness of Golden Delicious apples, blending well with the moist cake crumbs. This is definitely not going to be the last upside down cake I'm baking.

A little caramel bleeding at the crime scene

Apple Upside-Down Cake (adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Heavenly Cakes)

Ingredients

Apple & Walnut Topping:
454g apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4" thick
1 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
72g light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado
57g unsalted butter
66g walnut halves

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Prepare a 9" cake pan, encircled with a cake strip, bottom coated with shortening, topped with a parchment round
2. In a medium bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, and 2 tbsp of brown sugar. Allow mixture to sit for at least 30 mins or up to 1 1/2h. Drain the apples, reserving their liquid
3. In a small saucepan, preferably nonstick, melt the butter. Use abt 1 tbsp to coat the parchment-lined bottom and sides of the cake pan
4. Add remaining brown sugar and reserved liquid that has drained from apples to the butter remaining in the saucepan
5. Bring to boil, stirring constantly with a light-colored silicone spatula, then stop stirring, but leave the spatula in place to judge the color, and simmer for abt 3 mins, until bubbling thickly and deep amber in color
6. Pour this mixture (do not scrape) into the prepared cake pan, tilting to coat the entire bottom. Don't worry if the mixture hardens; it will melt during baking
7. Place apple slices, overlapping slightly, on the bottom and around the sides of the pan. Set aside
8. Spread walnuts evenly on a baking sheet and bake for abt 7 mins to enhance their flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even toasting and avoid over browning. Cool completely. Chop coarsely and set aside

Batter:
56g egg yolks, room temperature (abt 3)
121g sour cream
1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
150g cake flour, sifted
150g superfine sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
128g unsalted butter, room temperature

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks, 2 tbsp of sour cream and vanilla until just combined
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt on low speed for 30 secs
3. Add the butter and remaining sour cream, mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened
4. Raise speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 mins. Scrape down sides of the bowl
5. Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add egg mixture to the batter in 2 parts, beating on medium speed for 30 secs after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down sides of bowl
6. Using a silicone spatula, drop batter in big blobs on top of apples. Then smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula while keeping the apples in an attractive pattern
7. Place pan in oven. Bake for 35 to 45 mins or until golden brown, a wire cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the centre
8. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake at once onto a serving plate. Leave the pan in place for 1 to 2 mins before lifting it off. If any apple slices have stuck to the pan, use a small metal spatula to place them back on the cake
9. Scatter the toasted walnuts on top. Serve warm or room temperature

Campton Place Muffins (Granny Smith Version)

Hey folks! Am probably somewhere in the middle of Malaysia now. Am going there for a short holiday over the long weekend. Going to Malacca, have not been there since my secondary school field trip which...honestly, I can't really remember what went on at the trip other than a bus of rowdy hyperactive teenagers who probably are better off at a bbq than visiting Cheng Ho temples. Have to satisfy my baking urges before leaving.

Kinda late for the apple theme since it's like what, almost end of fall. Better late than never though. Went to the supermarket and bought an apple of each kind available - Red Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji, didn't get this breed type called Jazz what's that?. Did some apple research - funny thing how Google gave me Steve-Jobs-Apple when I typed in "Apples" as my keyword - found out that Jazz is a new variety of apples from NZ. Cool.

So I literally lay out my apples on my table like an art exhibition LOL. Finally picked Granny Smith for this one as I don't trust my speed in preparing the ingredients before the apples start to brown hehe. Whenever I bake with fruits, I'll have an uninvited guest sitting beside me in the kitchen watching me prepare the ingredients. The last time I made something with bananas, she was there too. This time, she pays her visit as well.

hello little fellow

all smiles upon seeing her apple scraps

her patience paid off

These muffins are dense and moist with a crunchy brown dome top. The tarty apples provide extra crisp while chewing on the muffin. The occasional acidity the fruit blends well with the sweet muffins. The batter turns out to be pretty thick, -I think it's written in such a way to carry the weight of cut fruits without letting them sink to the bottom - so you can afford to cut chunkier bits of apples than mine if you like that extra crunch.

Campton Place Muffins (adapted from Sherry Yard's Desserts by the Yard)
(makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:
130g cake flour
140g all purpose flour
150g granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
242g sour cream (I use lite sour cream, though I'm not supposed to! :P)
60ml milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
85g unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1 1/2 cup fruits, such as blueberries, chopped apples, or chopped figs) (I use 1 Granny Smith apple)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Spray a muffin tin with pan spray or line with paper liners
2. Sift together cake flour, plain flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
3. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, vanilla and melted butter
4. Whisk in flour mixture and fold in the fruit
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling cups 3/4 full
6. Bake for 15mins. Rotate the tin from front to back, and bake for another 10 to 15mins, until muffins are lightly browned, firm to touch and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin on a rack for 15mins, then remove muffins from tin and allow to cool complete on the rack