Practically a cross between a custard, a pie, and a cake, this French apple cake recipe is almost like magic. Packed full of juicy apples, creamy butter, and a secret ingredient (okay, it’s rum!), this sweet French cake is incredibly delicious and surprisingly easy to make.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Cake with Fresh Apples
- What Is French Apple Cake?
- Ingredients Needed
- How To Make French Apple Cake
- Helpful Tips
- Creative Cake Recipes Tasty Variations
- What To Serve With This Easy Apple Cake
- Storage Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Helpful Tools for This Apple Dessert
- If You Love Baking Sweets, Here are More to Try
If you like this recipe, you will also love our Jewish apple cake and our Caramel apple cake.
Why You’ll Love This Cake with Fresh Apples
Let’s dive into what makes this apple cake a must-try delight!
- Irresistible Fusion of Flavors and Textures:This recipe brilliantly combines the lusciousness of custard, the comfort of pie, and the simplicity of cake. The soft, custard-like consistency of the cake pairs perfectly with the tender, sweet apple slices.
- Straightforward and Approachable:This cake is designed for home cooks of all levels. It is fast, easy, and requires only a handful of ingredients.
- Packed with apple flavors:Apples are the star ingredient, and this cake is packed with them. This cake promises to deliver a symphony of apple infused delight with every forkful.
- A Dessert That Gets Better with Time:Unlike many cakes that are best eaten freshly baked, this cake improves with time. It stores well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and is even better on the second day.
What Is French Apple Cake?
French apple cake is a classic French dessert that is more of a custard-like cake. It is filled with apples and blended with just enough binding ingredients to hold this cake together.
Imagine the delightful marriage of a custard, a pie, and a cake all in one heavenly dessert – that’s precisely what a this recipe brings to the table. It’s a delicious creation that combines the best of these three worlds into a single, mouthwatering treat.
Ingredients Needed
The main ingredient is, of course, apples but there isn’t anything complicated in this cake. There are only eight other ingredients and I’m sure you have them all.
- Flour: All purpose flour works fine, you don’t need to use cake flour.
- Butter: The flavor of real butter is hard to beat but if you can’t have butter, the cake works with margarine.
- Sugar: Just good old fashioned granulated sugar.
- Eggs: Let the eggs come to room temperature.
- Rum: If you don’t cook with alcohol you can omit the rum.
- Vanilla Extract: If you omit the rum, add a splash more vanilla.
- Baking Powder.
- Salt: Don’t skip the salt, it enhances all the flavors.
- Apples: Choose apples that work well for baking.
No unusual ingredients here! If you do any baking at all, you should have all these ingredients. Well, maybe the rum isn’t a standard baking ingredient. Or is it? It kinda is for me but I digress.
How To Make French Apple Cake
Don’t let French cuisine or from-scratch baking intimidate you. This will be the easiest dessert you will ever bake.
We’ve listed out the basic instructions below to give you an idea of how easy it is to make this buttery traditional French cake recipe!
Note: Make sure not to skip the full printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. There, you’ll find all of the ingredient amounts and details you’ll need.
Before you start cooking anything, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10-inch springform pan with butter (alternately line it with parchment paper which will make the cake very easy to remove from the pan).
- Mix all the dry ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Prep the apples: After you have washed the apples, peel, core, and thinly slice each of the apples.
- Mix all of the wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until they are foamy followed by the sugar, rum, and vanilla.
- Blend the wet and dry ingredients: Whisk in half of the dry mixture with the wet until well-blended. Add in half of the melted butter. Repeat with the rest.
- Add in apples: Fold in the sliced apples, coating them completely with the batter then pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake and enjoy: Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted into the middle comes out without batter stuck to it. Let the cake cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Helpful Tips
- Choose a Variety of Apples:Opt for a mix of apple varieties to achieve a more complex flavor profile. Combining sweet and tart apples can result in a balanced and delicious cake.
- Uniform Slicing:When slicing the apples, aim for uniform thickness. This ensures that they cook evenly. I love using the apple peeler and corer pictured in the photos above.
- Prep the Pan Thoroughly:Whether greasing with butter or using parchment paper, make sure the pan is well-prepped to prevent the cake from sticking.
- Cool Completely:Ensure the cake cools completely before refrigerating it. This prevents condensation from forming inside the container and making the cake overly moist.
- Use Crisp Apples: For the best texture and flavor, choose apples that are crisp and firm. Toss our the soft mealy apples or use them for applesauce.
Creative Cake Recipes: Tasty Variations
If you’re as crazy about baking sweets with fresh apples as we are, you’re in for a treat! Here are some fun twists on the original French apple recipe.
- Nutty Apple Streusel Cake:Add a layer of cinnamon-spiced streusel on top of the cake batter before baking.
- Spiced Apple and Cranberry Cake:Add 1 cup of fresh cranberries and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the cake batter.
- Apple and Pear Duo Cake:Instead of using all apples, use a mix of apples and ripe pears (about 3 apples and 3 pears).
What To Serve With This Easy Apple Cake
This French apple cake is absolutely decadent all on its own.
If you would like to pair this French dessert with something else, I recommend making a batch of creamy vanilla ice cream and some French roast coffee!
Storage Tips
You can store this cake for 3-5 days if it stays covered properly in the fridge and stored in an airtight container. The cake will taste even better the next day after the flavors have time to intensify!
Make certain to let the cake cool off completely before you store it. If it is still warm when you cover it, then the condensation will build up and make the cake pretty wet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which kind of apples work best in this easy apple cake?
I must say that this is more ‘apple’ than ‘cake’ and your selection of apples will determine the final flavor of the cake more than anything. As the original recipe suggests, I have used a variety of apples. This is also how I make my apple pies as well; it enhances the flavor and gives it depth!
For this specific recipe, I used Granny Smith apples, Braeburn apples, and Honey Crisp apples. These hold up really well when cooked and don’t turn into a mushy mess. A few other suggestions for baking apples are: Mutsu, Pink Lady, Jonagolds, Winesap, and Cortland apples.
Can I freeze this apple cake?
Since this is more of a custard-based cake, I don’t recommend freezing it. Technically, you can freeze the cake but, once it is thawed, you will notice a change in the texture. It is much better eaten within a few days of baking. And let’s be honest, that won’t be a problem.
So there you have it, folks — our irresistible, straightforward, and mouthwateringly good French apple custard cake. This extraordinary dessert brings together the comfort of home-baking with the elegance of French cuisine, reminiscent of the charming cafes in Paris. Bursting with apple goodness, it’s a cake that only improves with time.
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Yep, that’s all you really need but I really recommend usingparchment paper as well!
Parchment paper is a genius invention that has a multitude of uses. Unlike wax paper, it does not have wax on it and it can be used as a non-stick surface for baking. It will make this and other cake recipes come out of the pan like a breeze.
If You Love Baking Sweets, Here are More to Try
- Apple Pie with Einkorn Crust
- Einkorn Honey Almond Cake
- Roasted Apples and Aged Goat Cheese
- Roasted Figs in Goat Cheese Custard
- Strawberry Spoon Cake
- Vanilla Cake
- Strawberry Jam Cake
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This recipe was adapted fromDorie Greenspan’s book, Around My French Table. We have modified the ingredients to fit a larger pan because everyone always wants seconds.
Easy French Apple Cake
Yield: 10 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
An incredibly delicious apple cake with a custard-like consistency. It is almost a cross between a custard, a pie and a cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 large apples, about 2 pounds (Use a variety of apples for the best result)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 3 ½ tablespoons (49g) rum
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 10 tablespoons (5 oz or 142g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 10-inch springform pan with butter (alternately line it with parchment paper which will make the cake very easy to remove from the pan)
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt then set aside.
- Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs for 1-2 minutes until they are foamy. Pour in the sugar, rum, and vanilla and whisk for another minute.
- Whisk in half of the flour mixture until well-blended then blend in half of the melted butter. Repeat with the remaining flour and butter and blend until smooth.
- Fold in the sliced apples, coating them completely with the batter then pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Smooth the batter out then place in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted into the middle comes out without batter stuck to it.
- Let the cake cool for 5 to 10 minutes then run a blunt knife around the edge of the pan to loosen any cake that may be stuck to the sides.
- If the bottom of the pan is lined with parchment paper, the cake will slide out quite easily once the sides of the springform pan is removed. If the pan is not lined with parchment paper you will need to slide a long knife under the bottom of the cake to loosen it from the pan then invert it onto a plate that is lined with parchment paper then invert it again onto a serving platter (this will be accomplished easier if you allow the cake to cool completely)
Notes
- This cake stores well for 3-5 days in the refrigerator and actually is better on the second day.
- This is a very moist cake. Be sure to cool it completely before loosely covering it and placing it in the fridge, if it is still warm before covering it then condensation will build up and make the cake wet.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 325Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7.8gSodium: 163mgFiber: 3.6gSugar: 34gProtein: 3.8g
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