If you’re having one of those days where you spilled your coffee, you were late for your appointment, and you forgot to call your mom, well, it sounds like you need a little luck. By luck, we mean a slice of this Irish Apple Cake! All your worries from your not-so-great day will crumble away as you taste this warm, cinnamon-y, and apple-filled treat. The creamy, sweet custard sauce drizzled all over will make you forget all the misfortune you experienced, and you’ll want to pour that stuff over everything… really! Those daily challenges build character and hey, it led you to Irish Apple Cake, so that means things are heading in the right direction now. Right?!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 stick butter, cold and cut into small cubes, plus more, to taste, softened, for greasing the pan
- 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 large Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons demerara sugar
For the custard sauce:
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
Step 1 –Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2 –Grease a 9-inch springform pan with the extra butter and line the sides and bottom with parchment paper.
Step 3 –In a medium bowl, whisk 3 cups of the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the ginger, the cinnamon, the allspice, the nutmeg, and 1 cup of the sugar together.
Step 4 –Add the remaining 1 stick of cold butter to the flour mixture and mix by hand until no large pieces remain and the mixture resembles sand.
Step 5 –In a separate medium bowl, add 3 of the large eggs, 1 cup of the heavy cream, and 2 teaspoons of the vanilla and whisk together.
Step 6 –Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Step 7 –In a third medium bowl, add the apples and the remaining flour and toss until evenly coated.
Step 8 –Fold the apples into the batter.
Step 9 –Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.
Step 10 –Bake the cake until the apples are very tender and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes.
Step 11 –Transfer to a wire rack and allow the cake to cool in the pan completely, about 30 minutes.
Step 12 –In a heatproof bowl, add the remaining sugar and the egg yolks and whisk until it has lightened in color, about 6 minutes.
Step 13 –In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, add the remaining heavy cream to the sugar mixture and cook, watching carefully, until it is just boiling.
Step 14 –Transfer the saucepan from the heat, add the remaining vanilla extract, and stir until combined.
Step 15 –Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the sugar mixture, while whisking constantly.
Step 16 –Pour the custard mixture into the same saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until just thickened. Avoid boiling.
Step 17 –Transfer from the saucepan away from the heat and pour it through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl and let cool, about 10-15 minutes.
Step 18 –Pour the custard sauce over the cooled cake.
Step 19 –Slice and serve the cake drizzled with more of the custard sauce.
