Tuscan Apple Cake with a Crackly Meringue
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 65-75 min
Total time: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: Makes 1 9-inch cake, serving 10 to 12
I make this cake from Tuscany instead of a pie because it actually benefits from being made ahead, while apple pie is best eaten on the day it's baked.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, (organic preferred)
- 1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- Generous pinch salt
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Shredded zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 large (about 1 pound) apples (Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Gala), peeled,cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tablespoons sugar
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Instructions
- 1. Place the rack in center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. In a large bowl, with your fingertips, rub together the first measure of flour, the 1 1/2 cups sugar, salt, and butter until crumbly. Remove 1 cup of the crumbs and press them onto bottom of the springform pan and about 1/2-inch up the sides, making a crust about 1/8-inch thick.
- 2. Make a well in the remaining crumb mixture. Pour into it the milk, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, the second measure of flour, and baking powder. With a whisk, blend this mixture thoroughly without incorporating the crumbs. Then with a wooden spoon stir in the crumbs until well blended but still a little lumpy. Fold in the apples. Scrape the batter into the pan.
- 3. Beat the egg white until foamy. Beat in the 2 tablespoons sugar until whites barely stand in peaks. Zigzag it over the top of the batter, leaving 2/3 of the batter uncovered.
- 4. Bake 65 to 75 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- 5. Remove from oven and cool 30 minutes on a wire rack. Slip off sides of the pan and finish cooling cake. Serve at room temperature. Covered in plastic wrap, the cake holds well at cool room temperature for 2 days. It keeps a week in the refrigerator. Warming in the oven makes it even tastier.
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About The Show
In 1994, acclaimed food writer and cooking teacher Lynne Rossetto Kasper was receiving accolades for her debut book, The Splendid Table, which at that time was the only book to have won both the James Beard and Julia Child Cookbook of the Year awards. Among the many people enchanted by the book was producer and foodie Sally Swift, who thought the time could be right for a radio program on food.
