Now, although I had a beloved aunt named Hélène and my middle name is Marie, I don’t actually know anyone named Marie Hélène. However that didn’t stop me from making her apple cake.
Armed with some nice local Empire apples, and a friend coming over for lunch (see this post about that fun visit) I went in search for a dessert recipe calling for apples. I found this one on Epicurious, which was prefaced by a charming story about the writer sampling this cake made by her French friend, and then, upon asking for the recipe, being told that it was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It turned out that Marie Hélène had winged the cake.
So the writer, Dorie Greenspan, who found it too delicious not to repeat, went about creating a recipe for what she had eaten, a treat that contained more apple than it did cake. I am glad that she went through the trouble because the cake was very nice, indeed. Oh, did I mention that it has rum in it, that adds a great subtle layer of flavour?
I followed the recipe exactly except used only one kind of apple, versus the variety called for in the recipe. Also, my springform pan was 9 1/2 inches across, rather than the 8 inches called for, so my cake was decidedly thinner than the original. It was still very good, albeit reminding me of a big apple pancake. This change will not be necessary in the future however, as I’ve already gone out to get the right size pan, in anticipation of making this lovely cake again.
These pictures were taken in the dimming light of a fall evening, before we had our dessert, therefore they’re dark.
The cake serves 8 so there was plenty left over to get a picture in better light the next afternoon …
Thanks for dropping over. I hope you’re in for an excellent weekend. We have a birthday party to go to, which will be fun. Of course, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it next week!
xo loulou
