Apple Tray Bake


Each year I say I have found the best apple cake of the season.

Well, this is the winner for 2016.

The only problem will be finding this wonderful British golden caster sugar......I had it leftover from this UK recipe, and I think it made this cake even more amazing than it should be.
If you have a friend in the UK, ask then to send you a couple of packages of this sugar, I am addicted to it.

A "tray bake" is a British thing, not sure why, but the BBC has so many lovely recipes for tray bakes with apples......all using a type of apple we do not have here in the US, called a "Bramley" apple. That's ok, I live in NJ, where we have a ton of great locally grown apples to use.
I used Granny Smith and Macoun.

I adapted this recipe from a healthier website than mine.....where the authors only use rice flour to make it gluten free, and honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, and are vegans.
I am neither (gluten free, nor vegan, in case you are just coming on board now).

So, I adapted the recipe to make it for me.
I used sour cream instead of buttermilk or yogurt (because that is what I had)....and I didn't grind my oats, I kept them whole.

I bought almond flour (as the original recipe calls for), instead of my usual almond meal, and I liked it much better. It is lighter than the almond meal and that along with the caster sugar made for a delicious sponge cake.


Green Kitchen Stories served this delightful cake with a ginger spiced lemon yogurt, which would be terrific, I am sure.....but I just liked eating it plain, on its own.

This cake is wonderful. Period.
Pretty too.


Apple Tray Bake: (very loosely adapted from Greek Kitchen Stories)

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats (I used Quaker)
1 cup almond flour
1 cup of regular flour (or 3/4 cup of rice flour to make it g.f.)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Wet Ingredients:
4 oz butter (8 tbsp, or one stick), at room temperature
1 cup of golden caster sugar (or 1/2 cup maple syrup 
or runny honey)
2 apples, rinsed
3/4 cup cultured buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt
3 eggs, separated

Topping:
2 tbsp melted butter
cinnamon sugar

Mix the dry ingredients with the vanilla.

Then mix in the butter and everything else. The batter will be nice and thick and smell like cinnamon oatmeal. :)

I used a 9"x12" metal shallow baking pan, greased and lined with parchment paper.

Pour the batter and spread it into the pan.

I used a Macoun and a Granny Smith apple. I kept the peels on.


Slice the apples nice and thin and arrange them how you like, pressing into the batter.


Lay the cake on a bed of leaves and take a picture because you are a food blogger ;)


Brush w/ the 2 tbsp of melted butter and sprinkle on cinnamon sugar.

Bake in a 350F oven for 42-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cake.

Let completely cool in the pan, and then lift out with the paper.

Slice into squares and serve.


It freezes well too.

This is a winner.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm from the UK and Golden Caster Sugar is a wonderful thing. Any recipe that uses white sugar I replace with Golden Caster Sugar it adds such a depth of flavour. I also prefer to Golden Icing Sugar for meringues (think you call it dusting sugar / confectioners sugar). The colour of the meringues is not as white but the taste is so much better.

If you're ever in the UK also try our Demerera Sugar - similar to your Turbinado Sugar but again (I think) more rounded in it's depth of flavour.

Bramley Apples are a fantastic - they are a cooking apple. Very sour to the taste as an eating apple - we wouldn't eat use them as an eating apple. They cook to a soft and fluffy consistency and do not keep their shape - the colour when cooked is a very light and bright palest of green/white - I would use white sugar when cooking these to keep the beautiful colour. The apples are large in size and very shiny and all Bramley trees are descended from one apple tree still alive (I believe) today.
sixty-five said…
very likely that The Pie Store in Montclair will have this sugar. They are a great source of British products.
Anonymous said…

Hi Stacey
Wanted to ask ...did you whip up the egg whites for this and then fold in?
knowing you I think not but wanted to be sure.

thanks!

Michele
Stacey Snacks said…
SIxty-Five....I will call them today! That would be so great if they had the sugar!

Michele.....you know me....no, I did not whip up egg whites separately......hence the words, "loosely adapted from the recipe". I did my own thing and it turned out fantastic!

S.
Stacey Snacks said…
Anon from UK,

You are making me envious! I am stocking up on that sugar....it is quite pricey to ship to the US (amazon), so am hoping to find it in NYC or another store that sells British goods.

S.
Diane Hoey said…
Because we have a newly diagnosed celiac in the house I clicked through to the original recipe. We have to follow that but will hope ours turns out as delicious as your looks. The cake looks amazing in your photos.
Stacey Snacks said…
Diane,
Please let me know how it comes out!

:)
Stacey
Stacey Snacks said…
Sixty-Five,
I called The Pie Store in Montclair (RUDE guy on the phone, typical Jerseyan)....they don't carry it....and the lovely NYC Myers & Keswick on Hudson St. in the Village doesn't have it either......wah.
Guess I will just keep ordering from amazon and paying the shipping! :(

STacey
Could I make this on my quarter sheet pan or is that to shallow?
Stacey Snacks said…
Marie (Proud Italian Cook),
I think you could.....just not a half sheet pan.

xo