Apple cake

The family LOVES this apple cake, which is my take on a classic.
It’s simple to make and absolutely perfect for an autumn afternoon after a walk in the woods.
It tastes great warm but stays delicious for ages and is just as good in the days after it’s been baked – Adam Aamann

Ingredients

Dough
200g butter (softened/at room temperature)
175g light brown sugar
175g eggs
165g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
90g hazelnuts or, if preferred, almonds
½ tsp salt
Seeds from 10 cardamom pods, crushed in a mortar / the seeds are crushed in a mortar / alternatively, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Apple top
300g tart apples – Elstar, for example
3 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
Optional: 5 tbsp homemade plum jam

See video guides here

Instructions

Baking

1 springform tin, approx. 28–30 cm

Dough

Mix the sugar, butter, cardamom and salt thoroughly with an electric whisk. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking thoroughly between each addition – whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Blend the nuts to a coarse flour. Mix the flour and baking powder together and finally stir this into the egg mixture along with the nut flour. Pour the batter into a greased springform tin, sprinkled with a little sugar. Arrange the apples on top of the batter with the skin facing upwards, and pour the juice from the bottom of the bowl over the apples.

Apple top

Core the apples and cut them into wedges. Toss them thoroughly with sugar and cinnamon (and perhaps some plum jam), and leave them to stand whilst you make the pastry.

Baking

Bake at 175 degrees in a preheated oven for approx. 50–60 minutes – if necessary, reduce the temperature to 150 degrees for the last 10 minutes if the top is starting to brown too much. Remove from the oven, take off the springform ring and leave the cake to cool for at least 60 minutes before cutting.