Apple Cake

Prepared 5-06-09

I subscribe to actress Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle newsletter Goop and I saw this recipe there. Tamra Davis, a friend of Gwyneth's, came up with this recipe. She has her own cooking website tamradaviscookingshow.com

I thought now was the perfect time to try make this cake. Again, this is a simple recipe, just like I like them. I went ahead and used Granny Smith apples (the green apples) for this and for the applesauce I used a Granny Smith applesauce. Ms. Davis says you can use any kind of apple but she used Granny Smith, so that's what I chose. There is only a "no sugar added" kind of Granny Smith applesauce that I know of, and that's what I used. After tasting the cake, though, next time I will use a regular applesauce with sugar since I think this will give it a little more sweetness, which I think my cake lacked.

The recipe calls for 30-50 minutes of baking time (Davis goes with 45). I would suggest that with oven temperature differences you set your timer to 30 minutes and increase the time as you see fit. You want the crust to have a dark golden brown color. In my case, it took 45 minutes for the cake to reach that point. In terms of the dish you will bake the cake in, she doesn't specify, but I used a 9-inch pie dish and it fit perfectly. I think the cake looks nicer in a round dish.

Go to Tamra Davis' website and search for "Apple Cake" to see a video demonstration of this recipe.