Bolzano Apple Cake

5.0(299)

A classic northern Italian peasant cake, this dish's fabulous flavors belie its simplicity.

by Mark Bittman

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ItalianDessert

Servings

(6–8)

Total time

1h 15m

Calories / serving

302 kcal

Ingredients (9)

serves

1 stick butter (4 ounces), plus more for greasing panbutter
1/2 cup flour, plus more for panflour
2 eggsegg
1 cup sugarsugar
1 vanilla beanvanilla
1 1/4 pounds (3 to 4 small to medium) Granny Smith applesapple
2 teaspoons baking powderbaking-powder
1/2 cup milk at room temperaturemilk
Powdered sugarsugar

Instructions (6 steps)

01Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 8-inch square pan with foil, then smear with thick layer of butter. Dust with flour; turn pan over and tap lightly to remove excess flour.
02Melt butter in small saucepan. Set aside. Beat together eggs and half the sugar in a bowl. Continue to beat while slowly adding remaining sugar until thick; it should form a ribbon when dropped from a spoon.
03Split vanilla bean in two lengthwise. Scrape seeds into egg-sugar batter and add pod to melted butter.
04Peel, quarter and core apples, then trim ends and slice thinly.

05Remove vanilla pod from butter and stir butter into egg-sugar batter. Combine 1/2 cup flour and baking powder, then stir it into batter alternately with milk. Stir in apples, coating every piece with batter. Pour batter into pan, using fingers to pat top evenly.

06Bake for 25 minutes, then rotate pan; bake for about 25 minutes more, until cake pulls away from pan and is brown on top; a thin-bladed knife inserted into center will come out clean when it is done. Cool 30 minutes, then cut lengthwise and sprinkle slices with powdered sugar.

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Rich recipe — supports nutrition-aware planning.