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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
50 minutes
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Serves
8
Author Notes
Basically a quick bread, this recipe comes together quickly in the food processor with aid of a box grater for the apple. Feel free to add cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger, but I prefer it without. The batter is very wet, but the final result has a satisfyingly dense, moist crumb. To finish, you can top the unbaked cake with Demerara sugar, or after baking, dust with confectioner's sugar or top with a classic cream cheese frosting. —PF
Ingredients
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2 cups
Walnut pieces
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1 cup
Cane sugar
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1/2 teaspoon
Kosher salt
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3
Eggs
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1 teaspoon
Vanilla Bean paste
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1/3 cup
Buttermilk
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1/3 cup
Vegetable oil
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1
Apple (ie Honeycrisp, Snapdragon)
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1 cup
Flour (preferably white pastry flour or all-purpose)
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1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder
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1 teaspoon
Baking soda
Directions
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Brush an 8 or 9 inch cake pan with vegetable oil, line the bottom with a parchment round and brush lightly with oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, setting the rack in the middle.
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Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl and set aside.
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Peel the apple and grate away the flesh, avoiding the core. Set aside.
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In a food processor, blitz the walnuts and sugar to a fine powder. Add the eggs, oil, buttermilk, salt and vanilla and pulse until blended. Add the apple and any accumulated juice and pulse again to blend. Add the flour mixture and pulse to blend, taking care not to overmix. The batter will be very liquid. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake, checking after 30 minutes. The top will rise and crack, but the cake will be done when it no longer jiggles, and may take as long as 50 minutes. The cake will not pull away from the sides of the pan.
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Remove from oven and cool on a rack. With sharp knife, cut around the edge and turn the cake out. Resist the temptation to cut into the cake until completely cool; it takes at least an hour to completely set up.
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