Apple Pie Cake

This week's baking experiment was definitely different. My apple pie cake is close to my heart because it marks the first time ever that I saw apples on trees and my first time picking apples. And of course, picking your own ingredients that you use to bake is just not something you do everyday!

Erm...and this is me...obviously, I had to eat whatever I picked. I picked 17 and ate 3 while doing so. I did mention I am quite greedy and cannot be without food for longer than 2 hours right?

With 17 apples I had to bake something that required these lovely tart Cortland babies. I turned to Martha Stewart for guidance...

This is kinda like an apple crumble of sorts...and kinda like a cake just that it doesn't have that spongey cake layer and kinda like a pie...I don't know. Whatever you call it, one thing is for sure, it's super yummy!

I love the crumble, I love biting into a crunchy, buttery layer and then sinking into the tartness of the baked apples laced with cinnamon. Vanilla ice cream was not on hand and definitely regretted not keeping a tub around in case of emergencies like these.

Apple Pie Cake

(bakes a 9-inch cake, serves 8)

- 2 cups flour

- 1 cup light brown sugar

- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

- 8 tart apples (I used Cortland, but Granny Smith is recommended too)

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

2. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the cold pieces of unsalted butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9-inch springform pan and press in 2/3 of the crumble mixture to the bottom. (You can choose to press the crumble mixture 1 inch up the sides of the pan, I forgot to do so but it still turned out good.)

4. Peel and core the apples, cut them into thin slices and drain away any excess water, then sprinkle over with the other 1 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.

5. Arrange the apples on top of the crumble mixture in the pan.

6. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the crumble mixture over the apples.

7. Place the pan on a baking sheet with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour 15 mins, until the top is golden brown.

8. Let it cool for 20 mins before you remove the sides of the springform pan.

9. You can choose to let it sit in the fridge or serve immediately. (It's best served warm!)

Quick! Go get apples and get baking!