This Polish covered apple cake is where it all began. My whole apple cake baking journey started with this one. Renata, the wife of our colleague Christian, was visiting us with her children, and what do young women do when they unfortunately don't share a common language? Cook and bake. And I've been baking this cake every year since.
For a springform pan with 26 cm diameter
Ingredients
For the dough
* 300 g wheat flour type 405
* 100 g ground, blanched almonds
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 200 g cold butter, cut into small pieces (we used to bake with lard)
* 110 g sugar
* 1 pinch of salt
* 2 eggs, size M
For the filling
* 1.4 kg apples, e.g. Elstar
* 80 g sultanas
* 3 tbsp Calvados, alternatively rum or apple juice
* 75 g chopped almonds
* 4 tbsp lemon juice
* 250 ml apple juice
* 60 g sugar
* 50 g cornstarch/potato starch
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
For the glaze
* 150 g powdered sugar
* 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
* 2-3 tbsp sliced almonds
Also
* some butter/fat and flour for the springform pan
* some flour for the work surface
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Preparation
1. Prepare the sultanas Grease the springform pan and dust with a little flour. Pour the Calvados over the sultanas and set aside. The sultanas can also be soaked the day before.
2. Make the shortcrust dough Mix flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder together. Add butter, sugar and eggs and knead everything quickly into a smooth shortcrust dough.
Divide the dough into three roughly equal pieces. Shape two pieces into flat discs, the third into a ball. Wrap in cling film and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
3. Prepare the apple filling
Peel the apples, quarter them, remove the cores and grate them. Mix immediately with the lemon juice.
Add the soaked sultanas with Calvados, cinnamon and chopped almonds.
4. Thicken the apple juice Bring apple juice and sugar to a boil in a small pot.
Stir cornstarch smooth with 50 ml cold water. As soon as the apple juice boils, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the mixed starch.
Return to the heat and bring to a boil again while stirring constantly until the liquid thickens.
Add vanilla extract and pour the mixture over the apples. Mix everything thoroughly and then let cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C convection.
5. Shape the bottom and sides
Roll out one of the flat dough discs on a floured work surface. Using the springform pan, cut out a circle of about 26 cm and place it as the base in the pan.
Roll another piece of dough into a long strip that roughly corresponds to the circumference of the springform pan. Place the strip along the edge, flatten it and press it evenly upwards to form a high rim.
Prick the dough base several times with a fork and sprinkle with the 2 tbsp breadcrumbs. This prevents the base from becoming too soft from the apple filling.
6. Assemble the cake Spread the apple mixture evenly on the dough. The filling should reach approximately the height of the side dough rim.
Roll out the last piece of dough and cut it into a circle of about 26 cm diameter.
Carefully place the dough as a lid on the apple filling and seal it well with the side dough.
Make several cuts on the surface with a small sharp knife so that steam can escape during baking.
7. Bake Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes at 180 °C convection.
If the surface becomes too dark, loosely cover the cake with aluminum foil.
8. Cool After baking, let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then carefully remove from the springform pan and let cool completely.
9. Glaze Stir together powdered sugar with 3-4 tbsp lemon juice to make a thick icing.
Coat the completely cooled cake with the glaze and finally sprinkle the sliced almonds on top.
A little tip
This cake is very juicy because of the large amount of apples and cuts particularly nicely if it has cooled completely, perhaps even a few hours later or the next day.
By now I have enough practice with this cake and I only roll out 2 pieces of dough. So once just under 2 thirds and once the rest. That saves you one working step... And if the dough causes problems when rolling, just add a bit of flour, it works wonders...
