Apple Cake

The idea of apple cake came up in Mariel of Redwall. After some thought, I decided I wanted to make it in the style of a pineapple upside down cake. I used honeycrisps, which are super-sweet, and added very little sugar to the cake itself. If you use apples which are more tart, you may wish to increase the amount of sugar to compensate.

A note: I baked this in a 8x8-inch square pan because I wanted to cut it into many small, easily share-able pieces. If you are planning on only splitting this between a few people, though, feel free to bake it in a 9-inch round pan like a normal cake.

Apple Cake

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Yield: 1 9-inch cake

Ingredients

• 2 honeycrisp apples
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/5 cups white whole wheat flour
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Peel the apples and slice them thinly. I used my mandolin on the 1/6" setting. A knife would work well, too, just try to cut them as thinly as you can.
2. Arrange apple slices to cover the bottom of your pan. Dice any remaining slices.
   
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (baking soda through salt).
   
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (oil through vanilla).
   
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until just combined. You should have a very thick dough.
   
6. Add in the chopped leftover apple.
   
7. Gently press the dough into the pan, taking care to not disrupt your apple slices.
   
8. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown. 
   
9. Let the cake cool (preferably on a rack) COMPLETELY (don't get impatient like me and do this too soon), then invert the cake onto a platter so the apple slices are on top.
10. Cut up the cake and enjoy! If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with ice cream.