A Big Little Recipe has the smallest-possible ingredient list and big everything else: flavor, creativity, wow factor. Psst—we don't count water, salt, black pepper, and certain fats (specifically, 1/2 cup or less of olive oil, vegetable oil, and butter), since we're guessing you have those covered. Today, we’re making an apple cake you’ll make on repeat all fall.
Of all the apple cakes on our site, the most popular one comes by way of our Genius column, and an unknown person named Teddie. Who is Teddie? “We don't know,” Kristen Miglore wrote. “This marks the first recipe in our series with an anonymous genius.”
While its creator stayed mysterious, the genius of the recipe itself was clear. Teddie’s Apple Cake is rich, tender, and moist. But to get there, you’ll need 10 ingredients: all-purpose flour, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, eggs, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla extract, apples, walnuts, and raisins.
So what if I told you that we could drop that number to four? And that we could skip the oil altogether? And the baking soda, too?
It’s easy to assume that, without any fat, a cake would turn out dry (or, at least, not that exciting to be around). And it’s even easier to assume that, without any leavener, a cake would be as flat as a cracker. But in reality, neither is true.
If you don’t believe me, just ask angel food cake, which is little more than flour, sugar, and whipped egg whites. Or dive into a The Great British Baking Show marathon, and keep an ear out for a “fatless sponge” (more whipped egg whites).
While those classics can be tricky, this four-ingredient apple cake is anything but. Because instead of separating eggs and whipping their whites and streaming in sugar (slowly! do it slowly!), you simply crack whole eggs into a stand mixer, dump in some sugar, and let the machine do its thing.
The inspiration is Russian apple sharlotka. In Food & Wine’s version, there are flavorings like cinnamon, nutmeg, almond extract, and lemon juice. In Smitten Kitchen’s, vanilla extract and a shake of cinnamon at the end. In both, however, the core ingredients stay the same: all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, eggs, and apples.
Here, that template is our guide—but switching up the first two ingredients changes everything. Instead of using all-purpose flour, we’ll use white whole-wheat. As writer and whole grain expert Maria Speck explains, “White whole wheat is a true whole grain, but milled from a different wheat variety that’s lighter in color than regular whole wheat flour.” Which is to say, white whole-wheat is nutty and flavorful, but not nutty or flavorful enough to be distracting. We’ll also replace the sugar. Instead of granulated, which is as neutral in flavor as it is in color, we’ll call in light brown, which has the same outgoing personality as toffee.
These two simple swaps make additions like spices and extracts utterly unnecessary. Which leaves us with white whole-wheat flour, brown sugar, eggs, and apples (plus salt for contrast). That’s it. I love when such a small ingredient list adds up to something so big.
Just like Teddie’s, this cake is chock-full of what you came for—apples, apples, and more apples—bound together by a plush, tender batter that could have been a graham cracker in another life. But unlike Teddie’s, you can count the ingredients on one hand. I’ll be using the other hand, happily, to stuff my face.
| Unsalted butter, at room temperature, or oil for greasing the pan | |
| 3 | large eggs, at room temperature |
| 1 | cup (213 grams) light brown sugar |
| 1/4 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 3 | Granny Smith apples (about 198 grams or 7 ounces each) |
| 1 | cup plus 2 tablespoons (134 grams) white whole-wheat flour |
| Unsalted butter, at room temperature, or oil for greasing the pan | |
| 3 | large eggs, at room temperature |
| 1 | cup (213 grams) light brown sugar |
| 1/4 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 3 | Granny Smith apples (about 198 grams or 7 ounces each) |
| 1 | cup plus 2 tablespoons (134 grams) white whole-wheat flour |
Put down those long grocery lists. Inspired by the award-winning column, our Big Little Recipes cookbook is minimalism at its best: few ingredients, tons of flavor.
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Written by: Emma Laperruque
Popular on Food52
31 Comments
Don't waste your apples on this recipe.
Fresh Pear Cake
3 firm, ripe (about 1 1/2 lb. total) pears, peeled, cored and sliced
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk (any kind of milk works)
1½ cups flour
½ cup chocolate chips, optional
1-2 T butter
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter and flour a 9 inch round cake pan or quiche pan.
With an electric mixer, blend 2 large eggs, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup milk
Add flour and mix until smooth. Gently fold half of pears into batter. Add chocolate chips if using
Spoon batter into prepared pan, smoothing surface. Arrange remaining pears in a fan pattern over top of batter. Dot with 1 to 2 tablespoons butter or margarine.
Bake on bottom rack until cake is golden brown, about 55 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with confectioners sugar, if desired.
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