Author Notes
This is what popped into my head when the contest was announced. Unfortunately I'm not a cake girl. Enter Shirley Corriher's CookWise (a well timed Christmas present). After three tries, some very wise caramel advice from hardlikearmour (thank you, friend!!), I think I've created my first cake. —gingerroot
Ingredients
- For Apple, Walnut, Sage & Caramel
-
1
crisp, sweet, slightly tart apple, such as a Braeburn
-
5 tablespoons
walnuts
-
5
sage leaves, washed and dried (approx. 2 inch)
-
1/4 cup
water
-
squeeze of lemon
-
1/2 cup
sugar
-
2 tablespoons
salted butter, at room temperature
-
unsalted butter for greasing the pan
- For the Cake
-
1 cup
cake flour
-
1/4 cup
corn flour
-
1 1/4 teaspoons
baking powder
-
1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
-
1/2 cup
whole milk
-
2 tablespoons
crème fraiche
-
1 teaspoon
vanilla
-
1
stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
-
3/4 cup
plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
-
2
large eggs, at room temperature
-
1
large egg white, at room temperature
Directions
-
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment round and butter the top of the paper.
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Halve and core the apple. Cut apple into 1/4 inch slices, as uniform as possible. Lay apple slices in your prepared pan, slightly overlapping. Arrange last pieces as desired in center.
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In a mini-prep processor, pulse 2 T of walnuts and sage leaves until walnuts are a mixture of fine pieces with chunks, and the sage is finely chopped. Add remaining walnuts and pulse a few more times. You want the walnuts to be varied in texture. Spoon walnut sage mixture over apples.
-
Make caramel by putting water and squeeze of lemon (1/4 t) into saucepan. Mound sugar in the middle. Cover and bring mixture to a boil, swirling pan occasionally. Once sugar dissolves, mixture will bubble vigorously. After about 10 minutes, mixture should be fragrant and amber. Remove from heat and whisk in salted butter, 1 T at a time (be careful, mixture will be bubbling!). Carefully pour caramel over prepared apples. Allow to cool.
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In a small bowl, thoroughly whisk cake flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
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Combine milk, crème fraiche and vanilla in a small bowl (I used my one cup measure). Set aside.
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Using a hand mixer, cream butter for 3 minutes, scraping down sides with spatula as necessary. Add sugar all at once and continue to mix and scrape, for another 3 minutes. Add whole eggs, one at a time, mixing in between. Continue to mix and scrape for another minute.
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Alternating between the flour mixture and the milk mixture, add to batter in three additions, mixing on low after each. Be careful to only mix until blended - do not over mix.
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With clean beaters, whip egg white until you have soft peaks. Fold into batter in two additions. Pour batter into cake pan, smoothing evenly with a spatula. Bake until fragrant, golden brown and when poked with a tester it comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
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Allow cake to cool before inverting onto a serving plate. Enjoy!
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Note: Cake may be made one day ahead and stored in an airtight container.
My most vivid childhood memories have to do with family and food. As a kid, I had the good fortune of having a mom who always encouraged trying new things, and two grandmothers who invited me into their kitchens at a young age. I enjoy cooking for the joy it brings me - sharing food with loved ones - and as a stress release. I turn to it equally during good times and bad. Now that I have two young children, I try to be conscientious about what we cook and eat. Right about the time I joined food52, I planted my first raised bed garden and joined a CSA; between the two I try to cook as sustainably and organically as I can. Although I'm usually cooking alone, my children are my favorite kitchen companions and I love cooking with them. I hope when they are grown they will look back fondly at our time spent in the kitchen, as they teach their loved ones about food-love.
Best of all, after years on the mainland for college and graduate school, I get to eat and cook and raise my children in my hometown of Honolulu, HI. When I'm not cooking, I am helping others grow their own organic food or teaching schoolchildren about art.
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