Appelgebak

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus
• 2 tablespoons sugar, for sprinkling on apples
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 3 golden delicious apples, peeled, quartered, and cored
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 2 tablespoons water

Recipe

• 1 butter a 10 inch round pan (2 inches deep) and line with a disk of buttered parchment; set aside.
• 2 position oven rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°.
• 3 in a bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together; set aside.
• 4 add butter and ¾ cup sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with paddle on medium speed until soft and light, about 3-4 minutes.
• 5 beat in 1 egg until smooth, beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.
• 6 beat in about 1/3 of the flour mixture until smooth, and then beat in another egg.
• 7 beat in another 1/3 of the flour mixture and then beat in the remaining egg.
• 8 stop and scrape the bowl and paddle, and then beat in the remaining flour mixture.
• 9 scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
• 10 arrange 11 of the apple quarters, core side down, on the batter, in a circle near the edges of the pan.
• 11 place the last apple quarter in the center of the batter; sprinkle the apples with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.
• 12 bake the cake until the apples have softened, about 1 hour; the batter will definitely be baked through in this amount of time.
• 13 cook the cake on a rack in the pan, then unmold it onto another rack and lift away the first rack and replace it with a platter; invert cake again and lift off the top rack.
• 14 make the glaze: stir the preserves and water together in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the glaze comes to a simmer.
• 15 strain the glaze into another pan and place it back on the heat; allow the glaze to reduce until it is slightly sticky and no longer watery, about 2 minutes.
• 16 immediately pain the hot glaze onto the apple quarters, using a brush; let the glaze cool and set before serving the cake.
• 17 cut the cake into wedges; a little whipped cream would be good with this cake.