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Mother's Day Recipes Collage for Holiday Food Party

German Apple Cake

A recipe for German Apple Cake made with fresh tart baking apples. The recipe is translated and adapted from an old German cookbook.
Course Dessert
Cuisine German
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Author Renee

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour*
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 baking apples; peeled cored, and sliced
  • 4 to 6 walnut halves optional

For the glaze:

  • 3 heaping tablespoons apricot preserves
  • 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
  • 2 tablespoons cold water

For the garnish:

  • 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Instructions

For the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10-inch springform pan.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
  3. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Add lemon extract and beat to combine.
  6. Add flour mixture and milk and beat on low speed until just combined. Batter will be thick.
  7. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
  8. Arrange apple slices and walnuts on top of batter.
  9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  10. In the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking, make the glaze.

For the glaze:

  1. Push preserves through a fine mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Remember to scrape the strained preserves from the underside of the sieve as it will be thick and cling to the sieve. Discard pieces of apricot flesh inside the sieve or use them for another purpose. You should have 2 to 3 tablespoons of strained preserves.
  2. Combine gelatin and cold water in a small bowl. Allow to bloom for 10 minutes.
  3. Add bloomed gelatin to the preserves and stir over medium-low heat until combined and dissolved.

To finish the cake:

  1. Carefully brush glaze over warm cake.
  2. Cool cake for 10 minutes then remove the sides of the pan. Cool cake completely on a wire rack.
  3. Dust cake with confectioners sugar before serving.

Recipe Notes

*If you cannot find unbleached cake flour (King Arthur brand is most widely available) substitute bleached all-purpose flour or cake flour. Those flours will give the cake a slightly different crumb and texture.