Sour Cream Apple Cake

A moist and sweet gluten-free apple cake with sour cream.

Bake Me a Cake

Tis the season for flourless cakes, so I thought I might reprise one of my first gluten-free recipes, based on a traditional Jewish apple cake recipe I had used for years. Using nut meal instead of flour is a baking tradition in Eastern Europe and a favorite way to make a cake during the season of Passover. Almond meal makes this cake a dense, chewy and delicious dessert or a perfect snack with tea.

Karina's Jewish Apple Cake Recipe with Sour Cream

Almond meal gives this gluten-free wheat-free apple cake a satisfying chewy texture. Both blanched and regular almond meal works. Blanched almonds produce a slightly softer flour.

Ingredients:

5 medium apples, room temperature, peeled, cored (I use a mix of both tart and sweet apples)

A little lemon juice for spritzing the apples

Wet ingredients:

3 large organic free-range eggs

1 cup packed organic light brown sugar

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract [or use Kosher vanilla powder, to taste]

3 tablespoons extra light olive oil

1/4 cup sour cream

Dry ingredients:

2 cups almond flour aka almond meal

1/4 cup rice or sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato starch or tapioca starch

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder* see notes

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon McCormick Apple Pie Spice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or cardamom

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

To assemble:

Organic light brown sugar

1/2 cup pecan or walnut halves

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 10-inch Springform pan with greased parchment paper. Springform pans are deeper than average cake pans.

Chop the apples and toss them into a bowl; spritz with a little fresh lemon juice. Toss to coat.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs with the sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, oil and sour cream; beat to combine.

Stir together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add them into the wet mixture and combine well.

Drain the apples, if necessary (you don't need any extra lemon juice). Toss them in a light sprinkle of cane sugar.

Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared pan.

Add the drained sugared apples into the batter. Shake the pan a bit.

Add half of the nuts.

Pour the remaining batter on top of the apples; shake the pan again to distribute the batter around the apple pieces.

Add the rest of the nuts to the top and lightly press in.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven. The cake should be done in about 60 to 70 minutes. Test for doneness with a small thin knife. If the cake begins to over-brown before it is done, cover the edges loosely with pieces of foil.

Cool on a rack for ten ten to fifteen minutes. Loosen the cake gently from the sides of the pan with a thin spatula. Release the clasp and remove the pan ring. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve warm or room temperature.

Wrap up leftover cake slices individually in foil; seal in a freezer bag, and freeze. To thaw, unwrap and allow the cake to reach room temperature.

Servings: 8 - 10

Recipe Notes: 

As always, make sure the oven is preheated.   

I used large eggs, not extra large. 

Make sure the apples are drained well and not cold. 

If you use a smaller cake pan the cake may stay wet in the center. 

I baked this cake at sea level and it took an hour; but as always, go by your own experiential wisdom. If the cake needs a bit longer to bake, please do so, and keep an eye on it. 

Sometimes I mix it up and use a combo of pears and apples.