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Post by Chuckie on Sept 27, 2020 21:19:58 GMT -5
OK, I FIRST went to Ireland w/my folks in 1983 I believe it was, early Fall. This cake was on about EVERY sideboard wherever we stayed, and my Mom made a variation as well. I THINK she just called it "Irish Apple Coffee Cake". I subscribe to this gal's email recipes, and received this today for a similar cake made w/honey-crisp apples. As an aside, I have N-E-V-E-R used cardamom in ANYTHING but pickling spice or corned beef spice. Last week, I made a German Pound Cake that called for ground cardamom as well--go figure!!
Well, our Arkansas Black Apples are JUST starting to turn "ripe" in the upper branches, so thought I'd pick a few and give this particular recipe a go. While I was out picking the apples, my sister texted, and said her husband my B.I.L. Rick's Mom had JUST passed that very hour from a battle with cancer. God rest her, she was a HELLUVA pie maker, they even did a front page article about her pies in the Leavenworth Times. At any rate--given the circumstances--I thought THEM more deserving of the first cake from the apples off our tree. I just HOPE it tasted alright, as I never so much as got a SAMPLE of anything but the batter!!
I've included the original online link, plus the "written" recipe below, lest the link "dies" in a few years {my changes highlighted in blue}. At any rate, I hope it TASTES alright, it sure LOOKED good!!
And may Frances-The-Pie-Lady rest in peace eternal... Cardamom Irish Apple CakeEquipment 9 inch spring form pan Crumble Ingredients: 3/4 cup flour 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats 6 Tbsp cold butter, cut in small pieces 1/2 cup granulated sugar {I used brown sugar} 1/2 cup ground walnuts (pulse in a food processor) Cake Ingredients 3 large Honeycrisp apples, peeled and thinly sliced, 1 lb {I never weighed/measured, just used about four large Arkansas Blacks} lemon juice 1/2 cup butter at room temperature 1/2 cup sugar 2 large eggs 3 Tbsp milk or cream {I used heavy whipping cream I had} 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cardamom 1/8 tsp salt confectioner's sugar for dusting the finished cake Custard Sauce {I SKIPPED this part} 6 large egg yolks 6 Tbsp or 76 grams sugar 1 1/2 cups or 375 ml whole milk 1 1/2 tsp vanilla Instructions Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9 inch round spring form pan. {I also used parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, to make it easier to slide off onto a plate}
Put the streusel ingredients in a small bowl and blend everything together with your fingertips until it has a nice even crumbly texture and there is no more raw flour. Make sure to break down any large clumps of butter. Refrigerate. Toss the apple slices with a little lemon juice to prevent browning. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture, along with the milk or cream. Spoon the batter in to the pan, and smooth out evenly. Top with the sliced apples, and then the crumble topping. {Here's the batter in the pan--you can REALLY see the cardamom--then the apples on top, finally the streusel} Bake for about 50 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Lay a loose layer of foil over the top if the crumble is browning too quickly. {NOTES: I checked ours about 45 minutes, it was done, and I never had to cover the streusel topping; you MIGHT wanna check it about 40 minutes or so}
Let cool a bit in the pan before removing the sides {I let it set about 1/2 hour} Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving. {I forgot this part!!}
I DIDN'T MAKE THIS PART: To make the custard sauce bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile whisk the yolks and sugar until pale. Drizzle a little of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking all the time. Add a little more, while whisking, then transfer that back into the pan and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Don't overcook or it can curdle. Stir in the vanilla. I like to run the sauce through a strainer to catch any bits of cooked egg or lumps. Refrigerate the custard sauce until needed. Notes This cake is best made in a spring form pan so you can remove the sides and serve. If you make it in a regular round cake pan you'll have to serve it from the pan. {end of recipe}
------------------------------------------------------ Again, the BATTER tasted GR8, and it LOOKED good, I'll try to get an "impartial" review from me sister---IF they even GIVE her a piece!! LOL Here's a pic of the finale, "unsprung" from the pan: CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by pooka on Sept 28, 2020 1:32:57 GMT -5
This sounds & looks so good. I don't remember the last time I had a good apple pie or cake of any kind. I used to bring home a piece of chocolate cheese cake from work now & again, but they changed something. It now tastes to me like like it's got chalk mixed in. I pick up a habit of getting a frozen chocolate satin pie at the grocery, & treat myself to a slice every night when I came home from work, but not for a while. On occasion, I used to go up to Wolf's Barbecue to get some pork pit & buns, German potato salad & barbecued beans. To finish it off I'd get a whole coconut cream pie. Wolf's is known for their home made pies. I got a gift certificate for Christmas, but with our recent disruptions, I haven't redeemed it. My mom was more of a cake baker. Her pineapple upside down cake made in a cast iron skillet was something to behold. This recipe sounds like a winner. Hopefully your kind offering will be a welcome distraction for your sister & B.I.L. A good apple cake or pie is only as good as the apples you use. From what you've posted, those Arkansas Blacks are a keeper. You'll have to give us an update on how this one tasted. I just read a story about a variety being rediscovered that might bear some looking into. There are at least two groups out looking for lost varieties that are thought to be extinct. one is Lost Apple Project . According to their Wikipedia piece, "At one time, there were approximately 17,000 named varieties of domesticated apples in the United States, but only about 4,500 are known to exist today." The group i just read about does similar work. This article talks about Addie and Jude Schuenemeyer of the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, who are looking to preserve some of these old varieties from being lost forever. This newly discover one in question is called Colorado Orange apple. They call it a winter apple. In the old days, people would have cellars where you'd store your produce to get you through the winter. Apparently, some varieties of apples were used first, because they ripened earlier (summer and autumn apples), The Colorado Orange was a late variety that you'd wait till late in the year before you'd use them. From what this article says, the flavor would get better with time in cold storage. It says, "Once Christmas had arrived, the Colorado Orange — with its “tremendous complexity” — was ready to eat and would only get better leading up to July." I seemed to have read somewhere only about fifteen varieties of apples make up the bulk of production in the market, although there are more out there, they aren't widely available. This Colorado Orange sound like a good one to look into. It's funny this piece says these had one fatal flaw that made them fall out of favor. In a market where people were looking for a red apple, these were orange. Here's the link.
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Post by vaporvac on Sept 28, 2020 7:55:14 GMT -5
God bless Frances, the pie lady, and you for posting this lovely recipe. Was it you who posted the Jewish Apple cake a few years back? I have to make that one again as I grew u with it and it's my favorite, although I make an English Devon Apple cake that's also delicious. thank you for the wonderful link, also. Pooka, I'm equally fascinated by the different varieties and would love to grow some as I definitely have the space. The crabs that originally grew here have all died. The University used to have a lovely collection of some delicious varieties, but in their wisdom removed them all. So much for centers of higher learning encouraging diversity with on Campus plantings. I would buy some, but it so hard to know if they are good. Maybe i should look into those AB if they're sufficiently hardy. Thanks for your links also. I an sure your kind offering helped in a small way with the pain your Sis and BIL must feel.
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Post by Chuckie on Sept 28, 2020 11:22:02 GMT -5
They call it a winter apple. In the old days, people would have cellars where you'd store your produce to get you through the winter. Apparently, some varieties of apples were used first, because they ripened earlier (summer and autumn apples), The Colorado Orange was a late variety that you'd wait till late in the year before you'd use them. From what this article says, the flavor would get better with time in cold storage. It says, "Once Christmas had arrived, the Colorado Orange — with its “tremendous complexity” — was ready to eat and would only get better leading up to July." That is THEE BEST thing about these AB Apples--they keep FOREVER!!! We had a group of Hispanic Benedictine Sisters here in town, and we'd always let them come pick in an abundant year. I saw Sister Rosa after Mass one time around Easter, and she was so excited still about them, telling me how well they kept and how much the Sisters enjoyed them, as they "are always FIRM and CRISP, never bitter!" Monkey's Mom always baked either an Easter apple cake or pie w/the leftover AB Apples from Fall that she kept in her crisper drawer, saying the same thing--they last "forever"... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by karitx on Sept 28, 2020 14:30:38 GMT -5
That looks like a great cake, Chuckie. And I'm sure it was greatly appreciated by your sister and BIL.
I planted an AB apple tree a few years ago, but the squirrels steal every single apple from it when they are still green and hard as rocks. I hope they suffer from some intestinal distress for their evil fruit-stealing ways!
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Post by cinnabar on Sept 28, 2020 18:28:53 GMT -5
That looks fab! I only have a few apples this year so will see what I can do, put it on the list. I have made a Pear Cardamon upside down cake in the cast iron and have been known to eat the entire thing myself. By the looks of the apple cake pics I could do the same with it.
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Post by Chuckie on Sept 28, 2020 18:44:52 GMT -5
That looks fab! I only have a few apples this year so will see what I can do, put it on the list. I have made a Pear Cardamon upside down cake in the cast iron and have been known to eat the entire thing myself. By the looks of the apple cake pics I could do the same with it. Cinn: The ONLINE recipe cited only takes THREE apples, per them. Like I said, I used maybe 5 or 6? Don't remember now, just wanted it to be "apple-ey". As an aside, my sister texted me tonight to say she'd "had a piece of the apple cake. It was feckin' AWESOME!!" (her exact words). S-O-O-O-O-O, guess it's a "keeper"!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by vaporvac on Sept 30, 2020 17:51:15 GMT -5
LOL!, Chuckie! I DOES sound like a keeper. Cinn, did you post that pear recipe here? It sounds familiar.
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Post by cinnabar on Oct 1, 2020 16:55:19 GMT -5
Can't find it, will post it for sure.
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Post by cinnabar on Oct 1, 2020 17:11:30 GMT -5
YIELDMakes 6 to 8 servings INGREDIENTS For caramelized pears 4 firm-ripe Forelle or small Bosc pears 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter For cake batter 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoon vanilla 1 large egg 3/4 cup whole milk Accompaniment: vanilla ice cream PREPARATION Preheat oven to 375°F. Make caramelized pears: Peel pears, then halve lengthwise and core. Spread sugar on a plate, then press cut sides of pear halves into sugar to coat, reserving remaining sugar. Melt butter in a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Reduce heat to low and arrange pears, cut sides down, decoratively in skillet. Sprinkle reserved sugar all around pears. Cook pears over moderately low heat until sugar begins to caramelize, about 15 minutes, and remove skillet from heat. Make cake batter: Whisk together flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and beat well. Add flour mixture and milk alternately in 3 batches, mixing at low speed after each addition until just combined. Spoon batter over pears in skillet, gently spreading evenly and being careful not to disturb pears (batter will not cover tops of all pears). Bake in middle of oven until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cake in skillet on a rack 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge and invert a plate over skillet. Invert cake onto plate (wearing oven mitts), keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together. Replace any fruit stuck to bottom of skillet if necessary. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
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Post by cinnabar on Oct 1, 2020 17:12:36 GMT -5
Think this is it, from Epicurious. The plate is a 14" platter so it is not small.
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Post by vaporvac on Oct 1, 2020 18:52:19 GMT -5
That is just beatiful. I make a French pear cake that is similar and can also include prunes.
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Post by cinnabar on Oct 5, 2020 14:34:48 GMT -5
Just eating the first piece. Yum . Made a caramel sauce with cinnamon whiskey for the top. Can post a picture when I'm done eating. Used pecans on the topping. Could use more cardamon, because I LIKE IT!
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Post by nana on Oct 16, 2020 13:48:39 GMT -5
I made this with my grandkids today with my Ark Black apples. Just took it out of the oven and the whole house smells amazing. I thought I had some ground cardamom, but no, so my grandson painstakingly cracked open about 15-20 cardamom pods so I could grind up the seeds in my little coffee/spice grinder. What they won’t do for a piece of cake!
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Post by Chuckie on Oct 16, 2020 16:06:15 GMT -5
I made this with my grandkids today with my Ark Black apples. Just took it out of the oven and the whole house smells amazing. I thought I had some ground cardamom, but no, so my grandson painstakingly cracked open about 15-20 cardamom pods so I could grind up the seeds in my little coffee/spice grinder. What they won’t do for a piece of cake! Your top browned WAY better than mine!!! Is that a springform pan? Just curious, said you could use ANY pan in original article, BUT to use a spring form IF you wanted to remove it. We FINALLY had a (very light) freeze last night, so AB's OUGHT to be ready to finish picking!! ENJOY!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Oct 16, 2020 17:49:55 GMT -5
It’s not really a springform pan. It has a removable bottom. The sides are just a cylinder with a little lip going around the inside at the bottom edge, and the flat part of the bottom sits on that little lip. You put the baked cake in the pan on top of something tall like a mason jar, and after you loosen the edges of the cake you just kind of shimmy the sidewall down and the cake is left high and dry, so to speak. I inherited it from my mom. The cake was absolutely delicious, by the way! I used dark brown sugar in the topping, maybe that’s why it browned more?
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