ffwd - marie-helene's apple cake

I've made this cake twice now. The first time, to finish off our dinner of hachis parmentier last week. That time, I served it with some dulce de leche ice cream (would have loved cinnamon, as suggested); the second time, all on it's own. Both times we very much enjoyed the cake. With apples, I almost always add cinnamon, but resisted with this recipe. Like all of the recipes from around my french table, this one relies on the subtle combination of flavors. It's really all about the apples - well, of course there's the butter and vanilla... oh, and the rum...

My only problems were also all about the apples - what does Dorie call a "large" apple? (fairly obviously smaller than what I do!) And why won't those apple pieces sink in the batter? - they keep popping up!! Delicious nonetheless, I'll certainly make this again when I'd like something yummy, but maybe not something all that decadent (after all, there's no chocolate!).

my ingredients, ready to begin
4 varieties of apples, some not-quite-dark rum, and some really good vanilla

mixing the batter - a different method than a typical "American" cake - the butter is melted, and added alternately with the flour mixture

apples cut up, and ready to stir in
I ended up using 3 - 1/2 apples, 4 just seemed like too many



not a lot of batter, barely enough to cover the apples



ready for the oven 
I decided not to bother with the springform pan (I think it's more difficult to get a cake out of the pan)
this is an 8" cake pan (straight sides), lined with parchment - it never fails



this was my better-looking attempt
at least some of the batter covered the apples, but they did seem to float to the top
the cake came out of the pan perfectly (both times)

I will definitely try this cake again. For the amount of effort, it's really good. And a nice, light cake that could be served at any time, and equally good served warm or cold. Served with ice cream, it was the perfect amount of "rich". But would be great with a terrific cup of coffee too, for a nice little break.