Second Chances – Apple Cake

I made this cake yesterday.

I loved everything about it until…

 

… I started cutting it.

It just didn’t hold together. It simply fell apart.

Bummer.

But then I tasted it and… AND… let me tell you that I got completely and utterly overwhelmed by that heavenly taste. More than heavenly even. It just tasted exceptionally good.

So, under all these circumstances, I decided to give this whole thing a second chance.

What I need to do now is to dig through the original recipe and identify the things that might be wrong. I have a few ideas already.

 
 

To make the crust more sturdy and less mushy I could use less butter.

Also, the recipe said to prebake the crust for 18 minutes. I will raise that time a little.

 
 

Next thing, the apple filling. First, I will use smaller apple chunks next time. Also, when I mixed the apples with sugar, it resulted in quite a lot of juice, naturally. And even more of it was released during the baking process.

To reduce the amount of apple juice, I may try mixing the apples with toasted breadcrumbs. That should soak up the juices, leaving the crust more firm.

Or maybe I could use cornstarch instead.

What do you think?

 
 

If you have any more ideas on how to keep crust as firm as possible and or how to reduce the juices in an apple cake, feel free to let me know in the comment section of this post. It will be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading through this oddish post, dear friends.

Love and luck to you,

Petra

31 thoughts on “Second Chances – Apple Cake

  1. 1
    Brianna says:

    I would suggest mixing the apples with sugar (and a little bit of lemon) and putting it a strainer then just letting some of the juices drip out for an hour or two.

    Or partially precook the apples in a seperate pan where the liquid can be drained off.

  2. 2
    patrick rose says:

    use xanthum gum in the filling it will gel and keep together more. Xanthum gum is a natural product and works similar to gelatin. what flour are you using? some flours have a higher gluten content than others. that could be your problem with the cake.

    • 2.1
      zoomyummy says:

      that’s interesting, thanks for the advice. it is true that I used some new brand of all-purpose flour – I will try it with the old one I used to use before. thanks again!

  3. 3
    Ed says:

    Petra,

    First of all, i need to say i love your blog, the recipes are all yummy and the pictures are great.

    About the apple cake. i’m from Brazil, where we do not have the habit of eating that kind of cake, but i always had the curiosity to make/eat them. I’ve tried to use the search on the blog to find the recipe for the cake but i didn’t have much success on it 🙁

    Could you please point me the link to the recipe that you used? i promise i’ll try to make it and share my results with you.

    Thanks a bunch!!!

    • 3.1
      zoomyummy says:

      Hi Ed!
      Thanks for your kind words. This is the original recipe I followed:

      For the crust:
      2/3 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
      1/2 cup granulated sugar
      2 cups All Purpose flour

      For the Filling:
      2 large eggs
      1/4 cup granulated sugar
      8 oz. Sour Cream
      16 cups sliced apples (I used Granny Smith)
      1 cup granulated sugar
      3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

      To make the crust:
      In a medium mixer bowl using the paddle attachment, mix the butter until soft.
      Add the 1/2 cup sugar to the butter and beat until combined. Add all of the flour and beat until the mixture looks crumbly.

      Pour the mixture into your 10″ springform pan. Press the crumbs to cover the bottom of the pan, and halfway up the sides. Press firmly. (Try to get the thickness fairly even all over, but don’t worry if it looks lumpy)

      Put the crust into the oven for about 18 minutes at 350, until it becomes slightly golden around the top edge. Remove, set aside

      To prepare the filling:
      In a medium mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the 1/4 sugar. Beat for about 5 minutes, until the mixture looks thick and lemon colored Gently fold in the sour cream.

      In a Large saucepan, combine the apples with a small amount of water (2 cups or so).
      Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer the apples, covered, for about 3 minutes just until they’re tender (stir after a minute or so) Rinse with cold water, and drain them well. Place in large bowl.

      In small bowl combine the 1 cup sugar and cinnamon. Pour over Apples. Stir to coat

      Spread coated apples evenly over the crust. Pour the sour cream mixture evenly over that and spread it with a spatula as needed.

      Bake the cake for about 35 minutes at 350, until the top is quite golden. Let the cake cool completely, on a rack, before you attempt to remove the side of the springform pan.

      It comes from an internet discussion to ikea apple cake, submitted by a person called smokeyboston.

      Will you really try to make it?

      Petra

  4. 4
    SamCyn says:

    I agree with adding some sort of gelatin, or perhaps adding a little flour to the apple/sugar mixture? Hmmm? I look forward to seeing how things work out for you, good luck! 😉

  5. 5
    zunicka says:

    Petra, ja by som mozno primiesala k jablkam 1-2 Zlate klasy pocas dusenia.

  6. 6
    Monika says:

    Hi Petra,

    I have not tried it with apples yet, but when I make cherry pie from fresh tart cherries I use 3 tablespoons of tapioca and that firms the filling up quite nice.

    For apple pie I usually use 3 tablespoon of all purpose flour. In your case I would raise that amount cause it looks like you have at least 1/3 more apples then what I fit into my pie pans.

    Hope that helps.
    Monika

    • 6.1
      zoomyummy says:

      Thanks Monika, that is an awesome tip too! I do not really understand why it had not occurred to me that there’s no way how this could hold together, hehe. 🙂 Petra

  7. 7
    indrani says:

    Read online that we could moisture-proof the crust of the pie is by brushing the unbaked bottom crust of a pie with a well-beaten egg white before filling and then bake it for while.
    This link i found useful, please read under the following heads:
    What To Do About Juicy Fruit For Pies
    Soggy Bottom Crust

    http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/bakingtips.piesandtarts/PiesandTarts.cfm

  8. 8
    Maggie Hajj says:

    Hi! I came across your blog today accidentally. That cake (looks more like a pie, no?) looks delicious. The eggs should provide some kind of a custardy binder with the sour cream, but it looks like it separated and parts of it just floated to the top? So it wouldn’t bind anything. I agree with cooking the apples and then draining them, maybe thickening the strained juices with tapioca/cornstarch/arrowroot? Check out this website (you get a 14 day trial membership, or if you buy the actual magazine I think it gives you a code to use as well. It’s for subscribers I think.) http://www.cooksillustrated.com/cpa/3/2/default.asp?extcode=K00GDAC00 They do amazing work with these sorts of things. There was an apple strudel recipe that addressed that very problem of two much juice…don’t know where my issue is! Good luck!

  9. 9

    Looks lovely to me, but…
    Think about the variety of apple you are using, Golden Delicious, though much decried for being too ordinary, cook up well.
    Peel, quarter, core and SLICE finely instead of chunking
    Don’t put any sugar
    That would be my advice
    Best wishes and thank you for a wonderfully entertaining blog,
    Caroline Vidican in the Finistère, France

  10. 10
    Zoe says:

    I love the look of this pie/cake.. and I’m very tempted to try making it ! It reminds me a little bit of a french “Flan” , which is a set custard (also has some corntarch to thicken it) sometimes with the addition of fruit. The custard is thickened beforehand in a pan and when it the right texture it is poured into a pan with the fruit laid on to top after ( it will sink right in ) . It is then baked until it becomes lovely and golden with a custard crust on top, under this well it is a firm pudding, and it is definitely best eaten cold, allowing it to firm up ! Maybe you could try adapting some of theses ideas to see if it helps? Look forward to hearing more, good luck and happy eating 🙂

  11. 11
    Chiffonade says:

    What about tapioca or tapioca starch (which will give you the thickening power of tapioca without the little…blobs). This may enable the apples to remain firmly in place and you can continue to use larger chunks as you had in the original cake. Having said that, the damned thing looks delicious anyway…LOL.

  12. 12
    mau says:

    Nice reciepe.

  13. 13
    Julia says:

    I have no ideas on how to make the crust more sturdy. Cornstarch for the filling, that’s a good start though. It sure does look delicious as is 🙂

  14. 14
    Carol says:

    What a lovely website, great looking recipes & love your home made items!

  15. 15
    Lauri Lockerman says:

    There is nothing that says Fall like a nice warm apple pie. I have found a great way to make this all time favorite even better. Personal peices of pie:) All you do is make your pie as normal but instead of it getting put into a pan to bake you simply put the shell and stuffing into a cupcake pan. Only 6 are allowed at a time for spill over. This way there is no cutting and everyone gets just the right size/hand held peice of apple pie:)

  16. 16
    Jenay says:

    Personally I don’t like using flour in the apple mixture it makes it come out like pie filling with that resulting glue to the roof of your mouth thick yuck.Sorry but I hate pie filling and flour is one of the causes of the bad gluey mess in my humble opinion.

  17. 17
    Ashlyn Cofone says:

    Thank you for your post, I was sad that my family was not able to make it to the apple orchard this year. Instead I ended up buying one of the bags and using that to do some baking. This years apple treat was apple /oatmeal cookies..I think they would have done better if I put in some walnuts though. Either way they were a good treat to add to the pile of recipies:)

  18. 18
    JUNE SIMKIN says:

    well just read right thru some wonderful ideas here Made the apple berry slice but did wish it had a bottom . But it was so lovey as is with ice cream on it.I thought the apple mixture was very nice and could use it as a topping with the berries anytime .Have to make sure i have plenty on hand this summer.I think nicer than fruiit salad. May try for family day 26th dec ……thank again

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