Dutch Apple Cake
This past summer we embarked on an epic European vacation. One of these days I will get around to posting some of those pictures here, but until then lets talk about this apple pie/apple cake situation that we encountered on our trip. The first leg of our trip was LA to Amsterdam. We later went onto Denmark and Sweden but for the purpose of this post, lets talk all about Amsterdam and that apple cake.
Straight off a red-eye into Amsterdam we found ourselves jet lagged and hungry in the middle of Amsterdam. We stumbled into a little cafe called Winkels and proceeded to have the best apple cake I have ever had.
The Dutch call it apple pie, but in reality it is more like a apple cake - layers of batter with apple chunks in between. It is totally delicious. I put a picture up on Instagram and learned that many many people also loved this cake as much as I do.
So I set out to recreate it at home. Winkels cake has more apple in it, so feel free to adapt as you want, but the end result of this recipe creation is a tender cake with apples in the middle and a crunchy top layer.
I can't wait to make this cake all fall long.
Dutch Apple Cake
- 3 large firm and tart apples (such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp), peeled and diced
- 1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
- 2 Tbs. corn starch
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon, divided
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 sticks butter, at room
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbs. vanilla paste or extract
- Turbinado sugar
- Whipped cream for serving
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Spray a 9" springform pan with non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl combine the apples, 1/4 cup sugar, corn starch, pinch of salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon and lemon juice. Stir well and set aside.
In another medium bowl whisk together the flour, large pinch of salt, baking powder, baking soda and remaining cinnamon. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla bean paste and mix until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.
Place half of the batter in the bottom of the springform pan in an even layer. Top with apples then sprinkle on the remaining batter and press gently with your hands to form an even crust. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool for at least an hour before serving. Serve with whipped cream.