Description
Sweet Irish heritage comes alive in this Traditional Irish Apple Cake, where generations of family recipes blend perfectly with simple, hearty ingredients. Warm spices and tender apples create a delightful dessert you’ll cherish from first delectable bite to last crumb.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups (340 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1.5 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1.25 cups (156 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 0.25 teaspoon salt
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
- 0.75 cup (94 grams) all-purpose flour
- 0.5 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 0.25 cup (22 grams) rolled oats
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, chilled
- 0.25 teaspoon salt
Custard Sauce Ingredients:
- 0.75 cup (180 milliliters) whole milk
- 3 large egg yolks
- 0.25 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 dash salt
Instructions
- Prepare the oven at 350°F and lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
- Cream butter and sugar using a paddle attachment until fluffy and aerated, approximately 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Incorporate vanilla, milk, and eggs into the butter mixture, blending until completely integrated.
- Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Gently combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, mixing until just incorporated.
- Delicately fold diced apples into the batter, ensuring even distribution with roughly equal apple-to-batter ratio.
- Transfer batter to the prepared cake pan, spreading evenly across the surface.
- Sprinkle chilled streusel topping over the batter’s surface.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until streusel turns golden and a toothpick emerges clean from the center.
- Allow cake to rest and cool for minimum 15 minutes before serving with custard sauce.
Streusel Topping:
- Combine flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- Dice butter into small cubes and incorporate with dry ingredients.
- Use fingertips to blend butter until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Refrigerate streusel until ready to use.
Custard Sauce:
- Heat milk and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, avoiding boiling.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and thickened, about 2-3 minutes by hand.
- Gradually stream steaming milk into egg mixture, tempering the eggs.
- Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Serve warm alongside the cake.
Notes
- Select firm, slightly tart apples like Granny Smith or Braeburn for optimal texture and flavor balance in the cake.
- Ensure butter and eggs are at room temperature to create a smoother, more consistent cake batter that incorporates ingredients more evenly.
- Avoid overmixing the batter to prevent a tough, dense cake texture; mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute all-purpose flour with a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend and add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum for better structure.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Irish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 380 kcal
- Sugar: 27 g
- Sodium: 100 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg