Classic French Apple Cake
A tender, buttery, rum-flavored crumb nestled with big chunks of apples makes the Classic French Apple Cake a delicious staple. Right before baking, the cake gets dusted with sugar to create a signature crackly top that makes it even more unique, all while letting the apples shine beautifully. It is a simple and timeless cake recipe, just sweet enough and with a delightful more-apple-than-crumb-ratio. A must for your French baking repertoire. So what makes it a French Apple Cake? Unlike in US/Canada, a French Apple Cake doesn’t call for any…
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 45 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- ½ cup (125g) unsalted butter + 1 tbsp (for greasing the pan) 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large baking apples (or 3 small apples)¾ cup (150g) sugar + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp (45ml) dark rum (or Cognac)
- Icing sugar (optional - for serving)
- Crème fraiche (optional - for serving)
Instructions
- 1
Make sure you read the cooking notes before you start.
- 2
Preheat your oven to 350ºF (180ºC) with a rack in the middle. Line 8-inch or 9-inch (20-22.8cm) springform pan with parchment paper at the bottom and grease the sides with 1 tbsp of butter.
- 3
Step 1 - Melt the butter in a sauce saucepan and set aside to cool.
- 4
Step 2 - Peel and core the apples, then dice them into 1/2-inch (1.25cm) pieces.
- 5
Step 3 - In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- 6
Step 4 - In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and a ribbon forms from the whisk. Whisk in the dark rum and vanilla extract. Whisk in half of the flour mixture, gently stir. Add in half of the melted butter, gently stir. Stir in the remaining flour mixture, then the rest of the butter.
- 7
Step 5 - Fold in the apples until they are evenly coated with the batter (it will look like there is too much apple and not enough batter, but this is normal). Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top a little bit, with a spatula. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly on top of the batter.
- 8
Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes and remove it carefully from the pan.
- 9
Enjoy warm or cool. For serving (optional), dust with top of the cake with icing sugar and serve each slice with a dollop of crème fraiche on top.