Fine Apple Cake - Miele Combi Steam Oven

"Apfeltorte Fein"

SEE REVIEW BELOW

50 minute baking program.

Use a 26 cm (10") springform pan.

A juicy slice.

Dough

• 150 g softened butter
• 150 g sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar (1 Tbsp)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 packet grated lemon zest (1.5 tsp)
• 3 large eggs
• 150 g white pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• Butter to grease pan
• Breadcrumbs 

Toppings

• 500 g apple (3-4 medium apples)
• Powdered sugar

Recipe

1. Use a stand or handheld mixer to combine the butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, lemon zest, and egg until light and fluffy.
2. Fold in the flour and baking powder until thoroughly combined.
3. Grease the springform pan and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
4. Peel, core, and halve the apples. Place each half with the cored side down and then slice into thin (30 mm/~1/8") slices. Keep the sliced apple halves in the hemisphere shape and place them into the pan, spacing out the apple hemispheres around the pan. The dough will rise up between the apple halves for a decorative effect.
5. Bake using the Baking Program.
6. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Baking Program

AUTO MASTERCHEF >> CAKES/PASTRIES >> APPLE CAKE

Select desired level of browning and begin program (I recommend low browning, maybe level 2 or 3)

Butter the pan and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place the sliced apple halves with cored-side down.

Surround with batter.

Baked, cooled, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Notes

I used Braeburn apples, but any good baking apple would do. See the picture for how to arrange the apples. I recommend using more than 500 g apples so that there's more apple in every bite.

It appears that in Germany, dried lemon zest is a common baking ingredient. I have never found packets of this, but Penzey's offers a powdered lemon peel, which I used. This has strong lemon flavor and is a convenient way to always have lemon zest on hand. 

See this post on vanilla sugar if you can't make or find that ingredient.

Review

This did not turn out as well as I'd hoped. It is definitely the progenitor of my family's recipe for Emma Fischer's Apple Pudding, but it would be improved by the following:

• Use white pastry flour. I was only able to find Arrowhead Mill's pastry flour, which appeared to be at least partially whole grain. This made a heavier cake.
• Increase apples to at least 4 apples per cake. I wanted more apple in each bite.
• Use a lower browning setting. I used the middle, default setting. This created a dry and over-browned edge. Next time I will try level 2.
• Honestly, I like the higgledy-piggledy pile of apples in my family's version, because it makes for more apple goodness and the batter is distributed better throughout. However, this sliced apple-halves appears to be the standard German approach from what I found on Google image search.