French Apple Cake with Maple Ginger Custard Sauce
Have you ever had a toddler help you put away groceries and as you put a box of pasta away in your pantry, they pick up your carton of eggs and drop the whole thing splat on the floor? Well, that happened to me and out of a need to use the cracked organic free range (aka expensive) eggs, this dessert was born. So be warned the recipe does use 1 whole egg and 7 egg yolks!
“A crunchy but also luxuriously moist apple cake is topped with a velvety maple ginger custard sauce with a hint of spiced rum”
A crunchy but also luxuriously moist apple cake is topped with a velvety maple ginger custard sauce with a hint of spiced rum. For the custard, maple and fresh ginger is steeped in the milk. This really brings out the warmth and spice and highlights the tartness of the apple in the cake. Make sure to slice the ginger really thin. The more surface area, the more ginger flavor the milk will absorb while steeping.
I made this cake with tart Granny Smith apples but a mix of different apples would be delicious as well. If you do decide to go with a mix of different apple varieties I would recommend using at least one tart apple to balance out the sweetness of the cake. If you aren’t a fan of custard, you can also top this cake with a scoop of ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream. But make the effort on the custard. It really adds a demure spice that is wonderful atop this already amazingly delicious cake.
French Apple Cake with Maple Ginger Custard Sauce
French Apple Cake
1 1/2 pound tart apples (I used Granny Smith) peel, cored and cut into 1/8 of an inch slices
1 tablespoon spiced rum
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, divided
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Maple Ginger Custard Sauce
2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 inch piece root ginger, thinly sliced
5 egg yolks
1 tablespoon spiced rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
*Powdered sugar for sprinkling
French Apple Cake:
Place your sliced apples in a microwave safe shallow bowl. Microwave them in 1 minute intervals until softened and pliable about 3 minutes. Stir the apples in between intervals. Once pliable, toss with lemon juice and spiced rum. Then, set aside until cool, about 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325 degree F and butter a 9 inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. *don’t skip on this! the batter is fairly thin and there will be some leakage.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour and 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
Then, in a large bowl mix together the whole egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract/paste. While mixing gradually add in the dry ingredients until just moistened. Remove 1 cup of batter and reserve.
To the remaining batter whisk in the 2 egg yolks. Then, fold in the cooled apple sliced until they are all coated with batter. Poor the apple mixture into your prepared pan. Gently press the apples down to make an even layer.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour to the reserved batter and whisk until smooth. Spoon on the top of the apple mixture and spread evenly to the edges of the pan. Then, sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar evenly over top.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool on a wire rack and remove from the pan after completely cooled. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Maple Ginger Custard Sauce:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, maple syrup, and thinly slice ginger. Bring the milk to a simmer. Then, remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes.
After steeping, sieve out the ginger pieces and return to medium heat and bring the milk back up to a simmer.
In a small bowl whisk together egg yolks. Then, while whisking slowly mix in a bit of the warm milk mixer to tempter the eggs. Then add the yolks and milk mixture to the remain milk. Stirring constantly, cook the custard until it coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla and spiced rum.
Pour into a heat safe bowl and let cool on the counter. Then, refrigerate until cold.
*I like to serve the cake a little warm and the custard very cold (think melted ice cream :))
