C – I’m not sure if I made this cake right.
The recipe was a little vague. There were no pictures, no reviews and no words from the chef. So I assumed a few things …
While making this recipe by Marcus Samuelsson, I started thinking about my own recipes that I write. Are they vague or too complicated? I know I have made a few mistakes on my recipes. No one is perfect. We do try to fix them when we see the mistakes.
I had to read this recipe a few times. One of the biggest things I didn’t like about the original recipe was not knowing what kind of pan to use. Spring form? Round cake pan? Bundt pan? Silicon cake mold?
It just said to use a mold. What? So, I assumed it was a spring form pan. We also have three different sizes in our pan collection, so I didn’t know which sized to use.
I assumed it was the usual 9 inch size. It’s the standard size everyone usually uses. But, I am sure any 9 inch round pan will do.
Then came pouring the batter to the pan. Is this right? It’s appeared to be a really small amount. Maybe I didn’t cream the butter enough.
I guess I shouldn’t have been so lazy and creamed it for a full 5 minutes to get more air into the cream and make it really fluffy.
The next step was my biggest confusion. Dump the apples on top. Umm … I don’t like dumping things on top, unless I know it’s really going to work.
Will all of the apples be touch the batter? So I artfully arranged it. Making sure every piece of apple touched the cake batter.
The cake turned out nicely. The instructions were very vague on how to serve it. I had to have more assumptions on pouring the vanilla sauce over the top. If it could be served chilled our had to be at room temperature.
Maybe I was over thinking this. But, honestly, I needed to make sure I was doing it right to get the best taste from the cake.
The cake was great. I loved the apples. I used a mixture of Fuji and Granny Smith apples to give the cake different textures.
| Chef and Cookbook Thursday: Apple Cake with Vanilla Sauce |
- 4 apples, peeled and sliced into thin slices
- 1 tsp cinnamon, plus 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ Tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 cups milk scalded
- 6 egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- A pinch of kosher salt
- Scrape the vanilla bean into scalded milk.
- Whisk yolks and sugar.
- Add a little hot milk to the yolk and sugar mixture. S
- pour back into the hot milk.
- Stir continuously with the wooden spoon over a low heat until it starts to thicken. Make sure it doesn’t come to a boil.
- Strain and let cool. Or chill and serve cold.
- Serve over apple cake.
- Enjoy!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Toss apple slices into a bowl with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- Melt butter and brush a 9” spring formed mold with the a little of the melted butter. Let the remaining butter cool to room temperature and add ½ cup of sugar and the brown sugar. Whisk the butter and sugar until fluffy. About 5 minutes.
- Add egg with milk into the mixture and whisk.
- Stir in the flour, baking soda and teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Pour into the mold and spread out evenly.
- Arrange slices of apple on top.
- Bake for 40 – 55 minutes or until there is no cake batter remaining on a toothpick when tested.
- Let cool.
- Serve with Vanilla Sauce.
- Enjoy!
I loved that it wasn’t too sweet and the vanilla sauce complimented the cake well. It didn’t overpower itself by being heavy. It was nice and light. I could see myself serving this after a great meal.
Was I over thinking this recipe? Maybe. But I am glad I did. It turned out nice … and I think I wrote more specific instructions for it.
Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grandmas-style-apple-cake-with-vanilla-sauce-recipe