Course | Dessert |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Flour, butter, sugar, apples |
Apple cakes are cakes in which apples feature as a main flavour and ingredient. Such cakes incorporate apples in a variety of forms, including diced, pureed, or stewed, and can include common additions like raisins, nuts, and 'sweet' spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg. They are a common and popular dessert worldwide, thanks to millennia of apple cultivation in Asia and Europe, and their widespread introduction and propagation throughout the Americas during the Columbian Exchange and colonisation. As a result, apple desserts, including cakes, have a huge number of variations.
Apples are also used in other cakes to add moisture and sweetness, often as a partial substitute for refined sugar.
Regions of Great Britain and Ireland have the ideal climate for apple growing, making apple cake a common dessert with many regional varieties throughout. However, it is in the traditionally agricultural West Country of England that apple cakes have been raised as culinary symbols of their counties, such as Dorset apple cake, [1] Devonshire apple cake, and Somerset apple cake. [1] They are characterised by the use of wholemeal flour and often a combination of dessert apples and Bramley apples, and are typically served warm with cream or custard, or more rarely, with cheese.
Apple is a common fruit in German baking. The Versunkener Apfelkuchen (sunken apple cake) is an apple cake that has apples halves, usually peeled and hasselbacked, sunk into the sponge cake batter. [2] Apfelkuchen mit Hefeteig (apple cake with yeast dough) combines apples with a rich yeast dough, like a traditional coffee cake. Apfelstreuselkuchen (apple streusel cake) is a sheet cake with apples and streusel over the top. [2] An Unsichtbarer Apfelkuchen (invisible apple cake) pairs a large volume of thinly sliced apples with just enough thin batter to retain the shape of the cake after baking. [2]
An apple cake called szarlotka or jabłecznik is a common traditional dessert in Poland, made from sweet pastry crust and spiced apple filling. It can be topped with kruszonka (crumbles), meringue, or a dusting of caster (powdered) sugar. An additional layer of budyń (a Polish variation of custard) can sometimes be found. In restaurants and cafes, it is usually served hot with whipped cream and coffee.
In Scandinavia, apple cakes are typically prepared from sour apples and baked in a dough made from sugar, butter, flour, eggs, and baking powder. The cake is then topped with apples, cinnamon and sugar, sometimes also chopped almonds. Apple crumble pie is also common. In Sweden and Norway it's usually served lukewarm with whipped cream, custard (vanilla sauce) or vanilla ice cream. [3]
An apple cake called tarte tatin is an upside down apple pie, very popular in France. According to the Larousse Gastronomique, it was created by the sisters Tatin and democratized in their restaurant "Lamotte-Beuvron" in the 19th century. [4]
This apple pie is actually a derivative of an old Solognese speciality with apples or pears. It has existed for a very long time, and the recipe was passed down from mother to daughter.
Traditionally the bottom of the pan is generously lined with butter and a layer of granulated or powdered sugar is added.
On top of this mixture, apple wedges are placed and sugar is sprinkled on it. A shortcrust pastry thinly arranged is placed on the apples. The cake is served hot, often with a ball of vanilla ice cream. [5]
A doughnut or donut is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty vendors. Doughnut is the traditional spelling, while donut is the simplified version; the terms are used interchangeably.
An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream, custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the filling; the upper crust may be solid or latticed. The bottom crust may be baked separately ("blind") to prevent it from getting soggy. Tarte Tatin is baked with the crust on top, but served with it on the bottom.
A crumble or crisp is typically a dessert with a crumbly topping consisting of flour, butter, sugar, and sometimes oats, baked over a fruit filling. Apple and rhubarb are two popular varieties. Savoury fillings such as meat, cheese or vegetables may alternatively be used. As a dessert, crumbles are traditionally served with custard, cream, or ice cream.
Apple struesel is a traditional Viennese streusel, a popular pastry in Austria, Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and other countries in Europe that once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918).
Kuchen, the German word for cake, is used in other languages as the name for several different types of savory or sweet desserts, pastries, and gateaux. Most Kuchen have eggs, flour and sugar as common ingredients while also, but not always, including some fat. In the Germanosphere it is a common tradition to invite friends over to one's house or to a cafe between noon and evening to drink coffee and eat Kuchen.
Apple crisp is a dessert made with a streusel topping. Ingredients usually include cooked apples, butter, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. The earliest reference to apple crisp in print occurs in 1924. Other similar desserts include apple Brown Betty, apple cobbler, apple crumble, apple pan dowdy, apple pie, and Eve's pudding.
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.
Bougatsa is a Greek breakfast food, or mid-morning snack, or midday snack. Bougatsa has several versions with their own filling, with the most popular the bougatsa krema that has semolina custard filling used as a sweet food and dessert.
The poppy seed roll is a pastry consisting of a roll of sweet yeast bread with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of poppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of minced walnuts, or minced chestnuts.
Wähe is a baked dish typical of Swiss and Alemannic (German) cuisine. A wähe consists of a casing and a topping of a custard enveloping either fruit, vegetables or cheese. The custard and fruits or vegetables are baked together. The preparation is thus very similar to that of the French quiche or tarte.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to English innovation.
Dorset apple cake.