A review and remake of the BEST Cinnamon Apple Cake
Jump to RecipeSitting in my fruit bowl sat two rejected Pink Lady apples – sad to not have made it into our week of fruit intake. “Fear not”, I thought as I held them in my hands, “for I am a skilled baker and will find a delicious way to bring new life to your existence!”
I started Googling for a cinnamon apple cake recipe. I have made a gluten free French apple cake before for a work morning tea (which was absolutely sublime), but I really felt like something a bit more cinnamony (totally a word…).
Short on time, I went with the recipe that had high review rating, but also boasted being the BEST – right there in the title. So I loaded up the Sweetest Menu’s recipe for The BEST Cinnamon Apple Cake, feeling confidence that I would be eating a scrummy cinnamon apple cake in no time.
Scrolling through the ingredients, I pulled out everything onto the bench one-by-one – except when I got to the last ingredient. Ah crap – I didn’t have Greek yoghurt. No matter – I pulled out some buttermilk (to help bring in the acid required), and ricotta to help thicken it to more of a yoghurt consistency. That’ll do – I want this cake!
I didn’t know how it was going to go, but after baking for about an hour, my house was seriously smelling amazing! Apples and cinnamon filled the air as I took it out of the oven. I lightly tapped the top and was delighted that the Cinnamon Topping provided a caramelised crunch topping. I was salivating.
It tested my patience having to wait for it to cool. I think I lasted all of about 30 minutes before I caved – one small piece… The top crunched as the knife cut downwards, making way for the super-soft cake interior, with slight pressure at the points where I cut through the apple pieces within.
As I took that first bite – I realised that this cake was something very special that I would be remaking in the future. I love cinnamon apple desserts – my Dad (being Austrian), often baked apple strudels from scratch. It was a staple in our culture. This cake hit all the right notes with the cinnamon and apple. Sure, it doesn’t offer the flaky pastry – but for those short on time, this is a wonderful substitute to use up some apples. And it’s got fruit it in – so how bad can it be? 😉
You may notice that I did not add the extra icing sugar glaze. This was purposeful. I don’t think it really needs it (I thought it was sweet enough), but if you wanted to jazz it up a bit, some drizzled over the top would definitely do the trick.
Cinnamon Apple and Ricotta Cake
Equipment
- Peeler
- Electric scales
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium mixing bowl
- Sieve/Sifter
- Whisk
- Spatula
- 8" Cake Tin
- Cake wrap (options)
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 2 apples Pink Lady, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 210 g plain flour sifted
- 1/2 tsp baking soda sifted
- 150 g caster sugar sifted
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 ml oil rice bran or vegetable
- 60 ml buttermilk
- 1/4 cup ricotta full fat
Cinnamon Topping
- 20 g salted butter melted
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan-forced). If using cake wrap, get that soaking. Grease and line an 8" cake tin.
- Peel and roughly chop 2 Pink Lady apples. Toss in cinnamon to coat. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sifted dry ingredients – plain flour, baking soda and sugar. Add in the cinnamon apple pieces and gently toss in the dry ingredients mix.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients – eggs, vanilla extract, oil, buttermilk and ricotta.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until combined. Pour into prepared cake tin and set aside to make the Cinnamon Topping.
- In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon, Mix well, and then sprinkle over the top of the cake batter.
- Place the cake wrap around the cake tin, and bake in preheated over for approximately 1 hour. Use a wooden skewer to check for doneness in centre of cake (you should not see any wet cake batter).
- When cooked, remove from oven and set aside to rest in the cake tin for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool.