Alsatian Apple Cake

German Apple Cake

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Prep: 40 mins
Cook: 35 mins
Total: 75 mins
Servings: 12 servings

Fresh apples combine with a vanilla-flavored cream in a shortbread-like crust to create a wonderful dessert that works every time. Additionally, the ingredients are always on hand in a German kitchen. That’s why this “Kuchen” is so popular in Germany; almost all cooks know how to bake this cake.

Ingredients

  • For the Crust:
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons butter (cut into small flocks)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons water (cold)
  • For the Filling:
  • 2 pounds baking apples (such as Granny Smith; 4 to 5 apples)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup light cream (may substitute whipping cream)
  • 1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

Steps to Make It

Make the Crust:

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter and egg yolk into the mixture until coarse crumbs form. Starting with 1 tablespoon of cold water, add enough water to the dough to form a ball. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. (Note: small, yellow flecks of egg yolk may still be present, this will not affect the final outcome.)

  3. Using 2/3 of the dough, roll out a circle big enough to cover the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. (If your pan is smaller, you won’t be able to use all the custard).

  4. Roll the remaining dough into a rope, flatten with a rolling pin and line the sides of the pan. Where the bottom meets the sides use some water and pressure to seal.

Make the Filling:

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Peel the apples and cut in half. Core apples and score the rounded sides lengthwise (see picture), cutting deeply but not all the way through. Brush apples with lemon juice and place cored side down on the crust, filling the pan.

  3. Preheat oven to 350 F.

  4. Beat the eggs and sugar until lemon yellow and sugar have dissolved. Add cream slowly while mixing. If you are using the vanilla bean, slit it down the middle and scrape out the tiny seeds. Add the seeds or the vanilla extract to custard and mix in.​

  5. Pour the custard mixture over the apples and up to the edge of the crust. Place pan in the oven and bake approximately 35 minutes or until apples are soft when pierced with a fork and custard is almost set (custard will finish setting up as it cools).

  6. Remove from oven, cool, remove from springform (at least remove the ring) and serve with whipped cream.

  7. Enjoy!

Tips

  • The crust should seal so that there is little or no leakage. Don’t worry if the sides don’t stay up, you can use the apples to prop them up. Another trick to get sides to stay up is to use a bit of cold butter between the pan and dough and to build up the sides so that they are thicker on the bottom, thinner at the top.
  • Use empty vanilla pod when you make rice pudding or hot chocolate. Remove before serving.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
208 Calories
10g Fat
27g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 208
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 13%
Saturated Fat 5g 27%
Cholesterol 87mg 29%
Sodium 148mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 27g 10%
Dietary Fiber 2g 9%
Protein 3g
Calcium 36mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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