Apples at market
By Cat, August 23, 2016 (Photo, right, from Wikipedia)
I found this recipe in a Sunset Magazine while I was waiting to see my naturopath. It is a fall recipe to accompany Roasted Five-Spice Chicken Pieces.
A torte is a type of cake, but uses more eggs and less (or no) flour. This recipe uses quite a bit of sugar, which helps in whipping the eggs until thick; generally I prefer to substitute stevia for sugar, but because stevia doesn’t give the same support for the eggs, I only replace part of the sugar, and I skip the powdered sugar on top. However, I provide both the low sugar and original sugar options in the recipe.
See also: 1. Cakes and Tortes; 2. Using a Springform Pan, and an Alternative; 3. Apple-Almond Custard Cake
Apple Cream Torte
This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Sunset Magazine, September 2016 issue. I’ve not changed it much; rather adapted some of the ingredients for my preferences. Makes one 9″ torte.
(Photo, below, from Wikimedia Commons)
Ingredients & Equipment
Base and Wall of Spring-form Pan
- 1 ½ lb (3 – 4) sweet apples
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup Rapadura or white cane sugar and no stevia OR (½ cup Rapadura or white cane sugar plus ¼ tsp stevia extract powder)
- ¾ cup heavy cream (such as whipping cream, not whipped)
- 1 tsp real vanilla extract
- 1 cup unbleached white flour, or ½ cup each unbleached white and whole grain flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder see Baking Soda vs Baking Powder, Part 1 to make your own
- ½ tsp unrefined sea salt
- Garnish
- powdered cane sugar (preferably unrefined powdered sugar)
- crème fraiche or whipped cream
- Equipment
- 9″ springform pan
- Stand mixer with whip attachment, or egg whisk and large bowl
- Rubber spatula
Method
- Preheat oven to 325F. Butter base and inside of wall of springform pan, then lightly flour it (adding excess flour to compost).
- Prep: core apples from top to bottom and remove core as a cylinder. Then slice apples in 1/4″ high rings.
- Make Torte: Whisk eggs and sugar (or sugar and stevia) at high speed until pale and slightly thickened. It is very important that eggs are at room temperature.
- Reduce speed to medium and add cream and vanilla; blend in.
- Sift flour with salt and baking powder, add to eggs and blend on low speed until evenly combined.
- Stir in apples with spatula, separating slices. Pour mixture into prepped baking pan and arrange apples flat. However, this is rather hard to do; another option is to pour a thin layer of battery in pan; arrange one layer of apples flat on top, pour a bit of batter over, and repeat the layering until all apples have been used, ending with batter on top.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into center of cake (avoid apples) comes out clean; about 60 – 75 minutes
- Cool: Remove pan to rack to cool for 20 minutes. Then run spatula or butter knife around edge and remove rim of pan. Cool torte another 10 minutes.
- Dust with powdered sugar (optional).
- Serve with crème fraiche or whipped cream; cake should be at room temperature when served.
References:
- Sunset Magazine, September 2016 issue (recipe is not yet available on their website as of this posting.
