If our apples are local, let our inspiration be global.
Three decades ago, my friend Pille grew up behind the Iron Curtain, imagining lives on the other side through a cookbook called World Dishes. Her favorite recipe became Kanada õunakook, Canadian Apple Cake. Last fall, I made Pille’s cake for a bake sale in my hometown on the Minnesota-Ontario border. Knowing locals would yawn at a ‘Canadian’ apple cake, I called it ‘Estonian’ apple cake and sure enough, it sold fast.
To fancy up a notch, serve this cake in a pool of crème anglaise (pronounced krem-ahn-GLEHZ), French for ‘English cream’, the runny custard.
CRÈME ANGLAISE Bring 1 cup half & half just to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk 2 egg yolks with 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk hot liquid into the egg mixture, then return to saucepan and cook on medium, stirring continuously, until it thickens. Stir in a splash of vanilla. Serve warm or cold. Melt butter in the microwave in a small bowl, using 10 - 15 second zaps so not to spatter. Cinnamon is cinnamon, right? Wrong. Cinnamon is harvested all over the world. Some are spicier, some sweeter, some mellower. My favorite is Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon from Penzeys whose Maplewood store is a spice ‘n’ herb marvel.
ESTONIAN APPLE CAKE
Time to table: 90 minutes
Serves 9
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk (skim is fine)
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) melted butter (see TIPS)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1-1/4 cups flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (see TIPS)
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, cored, chopped
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
TOPPING
Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, whisk egg, then whisk in milk, butter and sugar. Scoop flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon onto wet mixture without mixing in. With whisk’s tip, lightly combine without mixing in. Now whisk dry mixture into wet mixture until just combined. Stir in apples. Transfer to a well-greased 9- or 10-inch or 8x8-inch cake pan.
In a bowl, mix topping ingredients with fingers until mealy, spread evenly atop batter. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 – 30 minutes. Serve alone or with crème anglaise. Keeps 2 - 3 days.
PEAR & GINGER CAKE | Just substitute ripe pears for the apples and ground ginger for the cinnamon. A delicious change from the apple original! COOKING for DIABETICS | While this remains a 'dessert', it is possible to adapt this cake to use less sugar. Substitute 6 tablespoons of agave nectar for the sugar in the cake itself. Use whole grain flour (I had good luck with 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup while whole wheat flour.) Finally, use demerara sugar, an unrefined sugar made from sugar cane, for the topping instead of brown sugar. When Pille visited the States in 2008, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting my blogging friend in person! Our meeting reminded me why I once wrote about the friendships that form among bloggers, "And when we meet, we're already friends." Pille's blog Nami-Nami (which means Yummy, Yummy in Estonian) is a fascinating window into the life of a young professional couple who live and work near the capital city of Tallin. Be sure to check out what she calls Canadian Apple Cake, also another apple recipe she posted just recently, Oven-Baked Toffee Apples.
More Sweet Apple Recipes
This Fall, Make the Best Apple Pie Ever
READER TESTIMONIALS
If there's ever a cooking skill to develop, it's making pastry for homemade pies -- but not just any pie crust, flaky and tender pie crust, so tender you'll want to break pieces off the edge (what we call 'mouse bites'!) just to savor. A year ago, I was up to my elbows in flour, re-learning how to make pie crusts. I "got it" -- and so are Kitchen Parade readers.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I'm 54 years old and have been baking most of my life but I never could bake a pie that I felt worthy of serving...until now! I made this apple pie and it is perfect." ~ Janice from Ontario
"It was the most wonderful pie I have ever made. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart." ~ Julia from Utah
"I absolutely loved this recipe. I made it the other day, and it was the best pie crust I had ever made, hands down! Thank you for helping me out of my pie crust rut!!" ~ Chris
Apple Favorites from A Veggie Venture
If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, visit A Veggie Venture, my food blog, home to the Alphabet of Vegetables where there's a vegetable in every recipe and vegetables in every course.
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