French Apple Cake…the perfect dessert for the Fall season. This delicious Fall dessert is packed with juicy apples. For this French version of apple cake, Honeycrisp and Pink Lady apples are the star. These variety of apples are both sweet and tart making them an excellent addition to baking.

The crumb is made from flour, sugar, and a very generous portion of butter and eggs giving it a yummy custardy texture. No cinnamon or nutmeg required, save that for apple pie. The apples are all the flavor you need here.

Once you have all your ingredients folded together, transfer to a 9″ springform form pan sprayed with cooking spray and lined with parchment paper and pop it into the oven. The cake takes about 50-60 minutes to bake, so be patient. You won’t be disappointed. Trust your eyes! This is my method as all ovens are different. If it’s lightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean after testing the cake, it’s done. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cooled and Voila! French Apple Cake!

I’ve included a YouTube video where I explain the process of making this Apple Cake as well as the recipe. I hope you enjoy this delicious cake. Bon Appetit!

French Apple Cake

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake 

(adapted from Bake From Scratch Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 4 ½ cups 1 inch chopped and peeled Honeycrisp apples
• 3 cups 1 inch chopped and peeled Pink Lady apples
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon sparkling sugar
• Garnish: confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9” springform pan with cooking spray and line bottom with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, toss together apple slices and lemon juice. set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs until pale and foamy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla bean paste and granulated sugar. Whisk until well combined.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture alternately with melted butter, beginning and ending with flour mixture, whisking just until combined after each addition.
• Reserve 1 cup of the apples.  Using a spatula, fold remaining apple slices into batter. Using a small offset spatula, spread batter in prepared cake pan, pressing down to distribute batter between apples and into edges of pan; smooth into an even layer. Arrange reserved apple slices over top as desired.
• Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.  Return to oven and bake for another 35 minutes.  Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a thin silicone or nylon offset spatula around edges of pan to loosen.  Carefully remove sides of pan and cool completely on base on a wire rack. Serve cake from pan using a nylon or silicone cake server, or transfer to desired serving plate. Garnish with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.