So I can't say this cake was a complete success, nor was it a failure. And it was partly my fault, partly not. The recipe comes from a book I'll be spending some quality time with. Already have, in fact, with a particularly spectacular recipe that's on deck for publishing in the next couple of days. So the book can be trusted. I received it as a birthday gift from my parents-in-law back in October. But you'll remember that was during the black hole of orals, so I'm only just now getting to know it. Anyway, it assumes a certain amount of kitchen know-how, most of which I have, some of which, it turns out, I don't. For example, this cake would have been better made in a round spring-form pan, not in a loaf pan. It's a delicate butter batter crowned by heaps of apple. Apple which tends to render its juice into the cake, and in the case of a loaf pan, soaking it all the way through in the middle. Next time I would probably toss the grated apple with a bit of corn starch to help absorb the juices.
But the crusty part was Delicious. De. Licous. The essence of apple, so it's important to use wonderful ones. I chose Pink Ladies, because come on, Pink Ladies. There can't be anything wrong with an apple called Pink Lady, and they tend to be good for baking. And speaking of apples, I very much suggest you use a food processor to grate them. Then, in order to further avoid the soggies, don't use the mashed bits that tend to collect around the sides, but only the ribbons. Ribbons of pink lady to crown your Norwegian apple cake and soak up the drizzle of orange juice. That's the twist.
Norwegian Applecake with a twist (Eplekakae med vri)From Arne Brimi and Ardis Kaspersen's Norwegian National Recipes
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick melted butter
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 apples
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Orange juice for the glaze (I used the juice of one large navel orange)
Separate the eggs, then beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the egg yolks and sugar, as well as the melted butter, flour and bakin gpowder. Stir well and pour into a round spring-form pan. Peel the apples and cut around the core. Grate them coarsely and heap on top of the batter in the pan.
The oven should be preheated to 350F. Bake the cake for one hour. In the meantime, make a thin powdered sugar glaze by melting the powdered sugar and orange juice together in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the cake from the oven and drizzle the glaze over the top. Remove from the pan and serve.
Note: I would probably toss the apples with some cornstarch next time, cornstarch being a thickener often used in apple pies. Anyone else have any ideas about how to keep the apples from making the center soggy?
