Mom's Apple Cake

Mia in Germany's Note:

This is the only cake my mom ever baked - she was the daughter of a confectioner and taught me nearly everything about making cakes and tarts, but she never baked anything except this cake, because it was my favorite apple cake. She also made it with plums, but you can use any fruit you like. This cake maybe is not what you expect a cake to be - in Germany it is called a baking tray - cake which means that you spread the batter onto a baking tray which makes a flat cake, more like what you would call a "bar", I suppose, with a crisp bottom.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 12.0 squares

• 1 lb flour
• 8 tablespoons sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 lb margarine, non hydrogenated
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 lbs apples or 4 lbs plums
• vanilla (optional)
• cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Peel, core and slice apples or wash, pit and half plums.
2. Preheat oven to 350 ° F.
3. Keep 1 tablespoon of the margarine and two tablespoons sugar.
4. Knead flour, the rest of the margarine and sugar, egg, salt and baking powder until you get a soft dough.
5. Spread 2/3 of the dough onto a well greased or paper lined baking tray.
6. Layer with sliced apples or halved plums (they have to overlap).
7. Mix remaining 1/3 of the dough with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon margarine, add vanilla and / or cinnamon to taste and sprinkle over apples.
8. Bake at 350 ° for about 35 minutes.
9. Attention: This cake easily burns - so start watching it closely after half the baking time!
10. Slice while still warm and let cool completely on a wire rack. Or serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Reviews

[Tea Jenny]

This was very tasty and I ate way more than I should have it was very yummy. I did make a few changes, I cut the recipe by half and baked it in a smaller tin, and I used w/w cake flour a half teaspoon of B/P. I used splenda brown sugar blend to cut the sugar down, I also just used egg white and left out the yolk. It was very crunchy on the bottom, then the burst of the apples and then you get the crumble bit on top very nice. I served mine with Greek yogurt and it was to die for I will make this again when I have friends for dinner and maybe I won't eat so much myself. Thank you for posting Mia. Made for the harvest moon apple festival Oct 2010.

[WiGal]

Very good! Made as posted except I reduced the baking soda to 1 teaspoon and used 3 apples. I weighed my flour and it was more than 2 cups. I also used a pan smaller than a cookie sheet- a 9 inch square pan. It is similar to apple slices but less sweet and the cinnamon is mixed in with top dough layer instead of the apple layer. Thank you Mia for sharing.

[mliss29]

These are really good, but I did make some modifications. I thought 1 tablespoon of baking powder sounded like way too much, so I made it with 1 teaspoon. I took 1 lb of flour to mean 2 cups and used butter instead of margarine. I was surprised when 2/3 of the dough pressed out to about 9x12 inches and ended up using probably only 3 apples worth of slices. I used a little splash of vanilla and a couple shakes of cinnamon. They are really good and not too sweet. My friend really liked them, said they reminded him of Scottish shortbread, and asked for the recipe. Yummy! Thanks!