Alice’s Sulmonese Apple & Cinnamon Cake
Alice’s moist apple cinnamon cake pays homage to Sulmona’s love affair with this delectable spice. It has a long history with the town so famously known for its confetti, the Romans added cinnamon oil to their wines and baths and the monks of the city added it to their digestifs and preserving syrups. Today it is more commonly known through the delicate cannellini, the long and skinny confetti filled with cinnamon that the poet Giacaomo Leopardi adored to his downfall.
Ingredients
- 4 Dessert Apples
- 200 ml Milk
- 300 g Flour
- 200 g Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 100 g Butter
- 1 Fresh Lemon Grated zest
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
- Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 180C/ 350ºF. Meanwhile, coat an 8-inch round cake pan with butter, then line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
- Peel, core and dice 3 apples. Arrange half on the paper.
- Melt butter and sugar together in a saucepan.
- Sieve flour, baking powder, fine salt and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
- Whisk 2 eggs and milk in a large bowl. Add the melted butter and sugar and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture slowly and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. Add the remaining apples and fold in till combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before carefully removing from pan (loosen the sides by running a thin knife around the edge if needed first). Dust with icing sugar and serve.
Notes
Alice uses dessert apples rather than cooking apples to cut down on the amount of cane sugar added to the cake which gives it a sweet but gentle spiced flavor instead, and recommend Russet apples just like they would see in the Autumn market at Sulmona. To see you you through the winter have a slice or two each week or you can hold out and enjoy it as part of the breakfast Alice prepares on our food, wine and cooking adventures.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!