Simple Recipes - Apple Cake

Apple Cake

This recipe is for a Lithuanian Style Apple Cake that originates from a cookbook I have with a bit of a twist I added to simplify the necessary ingredients and more descriptive/corrected cooking directions. You will find a link to the cookbook below, along with an album of pictures I took.

Intro

Do you like to cook? Do you often find yourself not having an inventory of special ingredients for 95% of recipes out there? Do you maybe live on a budget? Or maybe you want to make something amazing and not spend an hour in the kitchen? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then this recipe might just be something for you. I'm not a person who keeps a plethora of items on hand just so I can make something this one time and not ever touch them again. It's extremely important for me to find a recipe that I can just go into the kitchen for and start baking.

Ingredients

• 2 Apples (1 will suffice if they are fairly large, may also be replaced with Peaches or Apricots)
• 1 Stick of Butter (4 oz / 113g / 8 tbsp / 1/2 Cup / 1/4 lb)
• 3 Eggs (pick smaller ones if using jumbo)
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar (6 oz / 170g) (may replace with white granulated sugar)
• 1/2 Cup Milk (110 ml) (any milk substitute will work; Almond/Coconut Milk)
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• Dash of salt
• Dash of Cinnamon (optional)
• 1 1/4 Cups Flour (10 oz / 280g)
• Vegetable Oil (This is for greasing the cooking pan; sprayable is easiest, but really any kind of cooking greasing agent can be used here, even butter).

Baking Equipment

• Oven (I hope you knew)
• Baking Pan (I used a 8x8x2in square pan, other baking pans or dishes will work that can fit about 1/3 gallon of water, I would recommend something that is about 2 inches deep)
• Medium sized bowl to mix ingredients (something that can fit at least 1/2 gallon of water)
• Equipment to measure cups and teaspoons (or other equipment for appropriate units)
• Electric Mixer (not vital, but recommended)
• Knife and Peeler

Cooking Instructions

1. Prep: Before you start mixing any ingredients, turn on the oven and start preheating to 355^o F (180^o C).
2. Prep: Also, put the butter in a bowl and let it melt in a microwave for 30-60 seconds.
3. Prep: Peel the apple(s), cut them into quarters and remove the seeds. Then slice them into thin strips, set aside for later.
4. Mix the eggs with sugar, try to get them as fluffy as possible (about 1-2 minutes with electric mixer or 3-4 minutes by hand stirring).
5. Mix in the remaining liquids: melted butter and milk.
6. Mix in the baking powder, dash of salt, and cinnamon (if used).
7. If you were using the electric mixer, set it aside now; you will not need it for the remaining steps
8. Mix in the flour by hand stirring; it helps to mix in the first ~2/3 first, and then the remaining ~1/3.
9. Prep the Baking Pan: Line with aluminum foil or cooking paper (or nothing if that's your preference) and use the vegetable oil (or butter) to grease it. You do not have to do this step but it will bite you in the end when cutting the cake out.
10. Pour the mix into the Baking Pan and push in the apple slices; it's OK if they stick out a little. You can also just dump the slices into the pan first and then pour the mix on top; but this way you will have most of the cake sitting on top while the apples sit at the bottom (not preferable).
11. Place the filled Baking Pan into the Oven, which should be fully preheated at this point. Set a timer for 40 minutes. My personal preference is 45-50 minutes, but that also depends on the type of oven you have. You can check if its done by using a wooden skewer (or a wooden toothpick); stick it in the middle and it should come out completely dry (no dough stuck to it).
12. When done, you can dust it with cinnamon and/or powdered sugar after it cools a bit; I personally do not. If you're not eating it all at once, keep it refrigerated and microwave it for a few seconds before eating it; it will retain the freshly cooked taste. Enjoy!

Links

Image Album on IMGUR: http://ift.tt/2eYFT2K

Cookbook: http://ift.tt/2eGZCFN

bon appetit