Apple Rosemary Cake is all about apples. I love it because not only is it easy, it's naturally gluten-free and low in added sugar as the apples themselves do most of the job of sweetening. You'll find that rosemary is an unexpectedly delicious partner for apples. It's a pairing I encountered long ago in Italy, and have been in love with ever since. Apples have varying amounts of sweetness, so depending on your tastes, you can mix a couple of your favorite apple varieties for this cake, say naturally sugary Golden Delicious with a tart apple like Braeburn, Cox, or Pink Lady to balance the flavors, but you don't have to. I've had delicious results with just Pink Lady. You don't need to peel the apples either, just core and thinly slice them - a mandoline does the quickest job of this. Enjoy this cake as a dessert with creme Anglaise, (aka custard), topped with a dollop of extra-thick cream, or simply cut a thick slice to have with your morning cup of coffee, a favorite breakfast treat in my house. It's really good. Try it.
AuthorAnn Ogden GaffneyCategoryBaked goods, Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Gluten Free, Mediterranean, Small plates and snacks, VegetarianDifficultyIntermediateWarm the butter, milk and vanilla together over a low heat. Cook until the butter has melted. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 175/170 C fan / 350F
Line a 9”/28 cm loaf tin with parchment paper. Brush with butter.
Core the apples and thinly slice with a mandoline. Toss with the rosemary and lemon juice until evenly coated. Cover. Set aside while you make the batter.
Warm the butter, milk and vanilla together over a low heat. Cook until the butter has melted. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, sift together the rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the lemon zest. Set aside.
In a separate bowl large enough to hold the batter, beat together the eggs and the sugar until airy, creamy, and smooth. They should resemble heavy cream.
Take the cooled milk and butter. Remove the vanilla pod if using. Gradually beat in ½ the milk and butter into the egg mixture, followed by half the flour. Repeat. You should have a light, creamy batter that is more like pancake batter than a normal cake.
Mix the apple slices into the batter. Mix in until the slices are completely coated in batter. There will appear to be more apples than batter.
Pick out enough of the prettiest apple slices to decorate the top of the cake with a scallop pattern. Set aside.
Spoon the remaining apple mixture into the prepared baking tin, pushing the apples and batter down until there are no spaces. If there is any batter left after this drizzle it over the cake. Take the reserved apple slices. Decorate the top of the cake with the reserved slices in a scallop pattern. Bake in the center of the oven for 70 -75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the tin on a rack to cool 5 minutes. Lift the cake out onto the rack to cool completely. Serve thickly sliced with pouring cream or a dollop of Creme Fraiche
As this cake really is all apples, it is best to choose a couple of different kinds to mix sweeter apples like Goldens, with tart/sweet varieties like Pink Ladies or Braeburns.
Instead of the vanilla paste, you can use 1/2 a vanilla pod to flavour the butter/milk mixture.
If you don't like the idea of rosemary, in step 2, add 1 tsp cinnamon +1 tsp grated nutmeg instead of the rosemary.
Interested in another apple cake? Try this!
