The Apple Cake I Make Every Fall

Each week, cookbook author and recipe developer Alexis deBoschnek offers a peek into life on her Catskills farm—whether it’s tending the land, raising chickens, or cooking with the seasons. This week, she’s sharing her favorite way to bake with apples.

Whenever people ask if I go apple picking in fall, I chuckle. A mere twenty feet from my back door sits a massive tree teeming with apples by October. They’re a far cry from the picture-perfect apples in the grocery store. They’re all a bit uneven, skewing slightly lopsided, and you’d be lucky to find one without a small blemish on the outside, but the taste is unparalleled. They’re crisp and sweet with just the right bite.

Every fall we try to use up as many as we can—in apple sauce, cider, and of course, in desserts. Crisps, cobblers, and cakes abound as the temperatures drop. One of my personal favorites is my Brown Butter Apple Cake, a recipe from my first cookbook To the Last Bite.

The batter is equal parts apple to filling, making the cake exceptionally moist and tender. The recipe calls for a 9-inch springform, but an 8 or 10-inch will work as well, just be sure to adjust the baking time by a few minutes in either direction. If you don’t have turbinado or washed sugar, just sprinkle regular sugar on top of the cake to give it that shiny, crackle finish.

Happy baking!

Alexis

Brown Butter Apple Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 medium baking apples, such as Granny Smith or Pink Lady

Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter

2 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Generously grease a 9-inch round springform with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment paper round.

Peel and dice the apples into ½-inch pieces. Transfer the apples to a bowl of ice water with the lemon juice. This will prevent the apples from discoloring while you make the batter.

Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium high heat, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter melts and becomes foamy. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the butter is golden brown and smells nutty, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for at least 5 minutes before using.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the browned butter, vanilla extract, and lemon zest, and beat until smooth.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom, and whisk until just combined. Drain the apples in a colander then add them to the batter, folding until just combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared springform pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the cake. Bake until the top is golden brown and glossy from the sugar or until a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool for at least 30 minutes in the springform pan before serving. Place the powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve and dust the cake all over.