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apple vanilla pound cake

I'd planned on making an apple pie this weekend but lost my pie making mojo and decided to make an apple cake instead. I've become a big fan of Joanne Chang's recipe and found this recipe for an apple vanilla pound cake on her IG live series. It uses an unusual technique, so I wanted to give it a try.
I had everything I needed in my pantry so quickly whipped up the loaf (literally) on Saturday morning.
The cake was easy to make and the batter tasted lovely.
All the cake needed was a light dusting of icing sugar before serving. Here's the recipe for you which makes a small loaf cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.


Apple vanilla pound cake - Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
120 g unsalted butter
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
45 mls cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 medium granny smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp lemon juice
3 large eggs
¾ cup caster sugar
1¼ cups plain flour, sifted (sift after measuring)
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon icing sugar, for garnish
 
Method
Heat the oven to 180°C and place a rack in the centre of the oven. Line a small loaf tin with baking paper.
 
In a small pan, melt the butter. Add the vanilla bean paste to the butter. Whisk in the cream and vanilla extract and set aside to let the mixture come to room temperature.

In a small bowl combine the apple slices with the lemon juice and set to one side.
 
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip together the eggs and sugar until thick and lemony coloured, 4 to 5 minutes on medium high speed. While the eggs and sugar are whipping, sift and stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. When the egg-sugar mixture is thick, add the dry ingredients and gently fold by hand using a rubber spatula.
 
Spoon a few large spoonfuls of the batter into the butter-cream mixture and stir to combine well. Once the butter-cream mixture is lightened, add it all into the batter and fold until completely combined.
 
Scoop into the prepared loaf pan. Layer the apples across the top in 2-3 rows. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes until the pound cake is golden brown on top and firm when you press it in the middle. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool.


Sift a bit of icing sugar on top to finish off the cake and slice and serve. Use a very sharp serrated knife to gently slice through the apples. Pound cake may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

I'm planning to remake this using the classic butter creaming method and let you know which method produced the best cake. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now, Jillian

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5 comments

  1. As soon as I saw your post, I knew I had all the ingredients.
    The loaf is in the oven and 3/4 of the way through baking. It was simple to prepare, and I know I will love this cake.
    How did you find the texture? I have never made, or eaten, a pound cake before but assume with the whipping of eggs & sugar in this recipe will make a lighter cake, rather than dense....which I seem to think a pound cake would be. Pound certainly doesn't sound light as air?
    Did your loaf get rave reviews at work?
    Looking forward to next Monday.
    Angela

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    Replies
    1. The cake is in the freezer as I baked a few things during the weekend. The crumb looks good but I worry it will be a bit dry. I think the original cake is called a pound cake because it was made with a pound of everthing - butter, sugar, flour and eggs but with no raisng agent. Let me know how yours turns out. J

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  2. Hello,

    Your beautiful photography makes me wish to be magically transported into your kitchen to enjoy the scent of the fresh baked apple vanilla pound cake!

    I am curious to learn the results soon of your butter melting vs creaming pound cake bake-off.

    I do make a cornbread recipe that uses melted butter. The texture is moist but with medium grind cornmeal this recipe won’t shed any light on which method may yield a lighter pound cake.

    I love that both vanilla paste and extract are used. I have fallen into a deep rabbit hole, joining the Vanilla Bean Co-Op group on Facebook, and now am surrounded by bottles of bourbon, rum and vodka homemade vanilla , vanilla sugar, vanilla maple syrup, and all things vanilla beans. I now seek ways to use vanilla in all its glorious forms.

    I always look forward to your delicious posts, with glorious images and tasty recipes to enjoy.

    Cheers,
    Anne

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  3. Thanks for your very kind comments Anne. I'll let you know the winner of the apple vanilla pound cake taste test once I find the time to bake version 2.

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  4. Hi Anne, I made the second cake during the weekend and honestly they taste much the same. There's very little raising agent in the cake so it has a tight crumb which makes it a little sturdier than a regular butter cake. It is however perfect for dunking into tea.

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