So simple yet so light and delicious!
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup room temperature unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons dark rum (my new fave is Gosling’s Bermuda Black Rum)
- 2 peeled and cored apples, chunked into ½-inch cubes (I use a mixture of 2 different apples, depending on what looks good in produce)
- Confectioner’s sugar, sifted over the top of the cake after baking and cooling
Make sure your oven rack is in the middle position, then preheat the oven to 350°. Grease (or spray) a 9-inch springform pan.
In a small bowl, use a fork to mix together the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder and salt.
Using your mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar for 2-3 minutes or until it is light and fluffy. Add the room temperature eggs, one at a time, beating them thoroughly and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each one. Carefully add in the vanilla and rum. The sugar makes the batter a little bit grainy-looking at this point. Now add the dry ingredient mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Turn off your mixer and fold in the chopped up apples.
Pour the batter into the greased springform pan and even out the top. Bake your apple cake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake top is a rich gold color and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack, keeping it in the pan. Once the cake has cooled, run a butter knife around the edges before removing the sides of the springform.
Be sure the cake has cooled completely, then dust it with confectioners’ sugar through a sieve. Adding a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream makes this light cake even more amazing!
Hillary Danaher 