Yep, you got it right. Not a French Apple Tart and not a French Apple Pie. A cake. And it is one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever tried. I first tasted it 10 years ago in a small cake shop in Vladivostok (Far East of Russia). The shop was new and their cakes were new and very unusual too. At least once a week I spent some of my tiny journalist salary on a cup of coffee with a piece of cake. And the taste of that cake didn’t haze from my memory in 10 years. So I decided to try and recreate it.
It took some time to experiment with proportions, sweetness and sort of apples, by in the end I achieved the taste I remembered. Now I’m sharing this recipe with you – my precious French Apple Cake. It tastes like harmony.The base of the cake is hazelnut dacquoise – soft meringue with loads of nuts. The right proportion of hazelnut and almond makes this cake really delish. Almond is drier than hazelnut and it gives more structure to the dacquoise – the cake is less soggy and gooey.
Recipe:
(makes 8″ cake , cooking time 50 mins + 3 h to cool)
Dacqouise:
7 egg whites
90 g granulated sugar
100 g ground almond (almond meal)
80 g ground hazelnut
180 g icing sugar
20 whole hazelnut
Apple filling:
800 g red sweet and sour apples
1 tbsp cognac
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Whisk egg whites gradually adding sugar until firm. In a separate bowl mix almond meal, ground hazelnuts and icing sugar. Fold dry ingredients into the egg foam and mix gently until incorporated. Divide the batter in two parts and pour each part into an 8″ cake tin. No greasing needed, but greaseproof paper or silicon sheet will be of a great help. Place 10 hazelnuts into each tin. Bake at 180°C for 25-30 mins. Cakes should come out soft like a sponge.
Peel and core the apples and cut into 8 slices each. Place the slices into a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper in one layer. Sprinkle with cognac and sugar and bake at 220°С for 5-8 minutes. The apples should be dry outside but yet crispy and juicy inside each slice.
Cool the cake layers to room temperature. Place one layer onto the plate, cover with apples. It will look neater if you put the slices round sides to the outer edge. Cover with the other layer, after flipping it over. Press it down a little and let cool in the fridge for a couple of hours. Sift some icing sugar on top for decoration.
Enjoy!
- 7 egg whites
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 100 g ground almond (almond meal)
- 80 g ground hazelnut
- 180 g icing sugar
- 20 whole hazelnut
- 800 g red sweet and sour apples
- 1 tbsp cognac
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1) Whisk egg whites gradually adding sugar until firm.
- 2) In a separate bowl mix almond meal, ground hazelnuts and icing sugar.
- 3) Fold dry ingredients into the egg foam and mix gently until incorporated. Divide the batter in two parts and pour each part into an 8" cake tin. No greasing needed, but greaseproof paper or silicon sheet will be of a great help.
- 4) Place 10 hazelnuts into each tin. Bake at 180°C for 25-30 mins. Cakes should come out soft like a sponge.
- 5) Peel and core the apples and cut into 8 slices each. Place the slices into a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper in one layer.
- 6) Sprinkle with cognac and sugar and bake at 220°С for 5-8 minutes. The apples should be dry outside but yet crispy and juicy inside each slice.
- 7) Cool the cake layers to room temperature. Place one layer onto the plate, cover with apples. It will look neater if you put the slices round sides to the outer edge. Cover with the other layer, after flipping it over.
- 8) Press it down a little and let cool in the fridge for a couple of hours. Sift some icing sugar on top for decoration.
