Karen Blixen’s Cinnamon Apple Cake
I finally found the time to publish this fantastic recipe by Karen Blixen, which I have been keeping in my little recipe notebook for years, found in some magazine (I believe Marie Claire) in the ’90s. It is a special apple cake: the apples, contained in a crumbly puff pastry shell, are seasoned with a cold cinnamon cream, covered by another layer of puff pastry, and once baked, the surface is brushed with sugar and rum and put back in the oven under the broiler for 5 minutes.
I love apple cakes (and you can find many of all kinds on my Blog), BUT I assure you this is one of the best apple cakes I’ve ever eaten, trust me! After all, it couldn’t be otherwise since it comes from Karen Blixen, the Danish author of “Babette’s Feast” (and “Out of Africa”).
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: International
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 946.59 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 116.37 (g) of which sugars 53.13 (g)
- Proteins 9.96 (g)
- Fat 50.48 (g) of which saturated 23.54 (g)of which unsaturated 13.64 (g)
- Fibers 12.07 (g)
- Sodium 227.49 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Karen Blixen’s Cinnamon Apple Cake
- 4 cups flour (I use Caputo Pastry Flour)
- 1.3 cups butter (cold)
- 3 tbsps granulated sugar
- 2 tbsps water (cold)
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 cup liquid heavy cream
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (dark, I use muscovado)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (about half a packet)
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 6 medium Golden apples (weight refers to whole apples, not peeled)
- 3 tbsps brown sugar (to season the apples)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (to season the apples, half a packet)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (to brush the surface)
- 3 tbsps rum (to brush the surface)
Tools
- Bowl
- Knife
- Apple corer
- Cutting board
- Stand mixer Kenwood, illuminated 7L bowl power 1400 W
- Leaf hook
- Parchment paper
- Whisk
- Nonstick pan perforated, with removable bottom
Steps for Karen Blixen’s Cinnamon Apple Cake
First, wash and peel the apples and cut them into crescent-shaped wedges, not too thin (you’ll get about 500 g of peeled and cut apples): season them with half a packet of cinnamon and 40 g of dark brown sugar (muscovado) and set aside.
Pour 30 g of water and 2 g of salt in a glass and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes (the water must be icy), cut the butter into cubes (it must be very cold).
Pour the flour and the cold butter cubes into the stand mixer bowl (you can also work everything by hand), mix the mixture quickly with the leaf hook until a crumbly texture is achieved, then add 40 g of granulated sugar, and 30 g of iced water in 3 stages, do not overwork the dough, just enough time to get a smooth and homogeneous dough that will rest on parchment paper in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Take a bowl and with a hand whisk, mix without forming lumps: liquid cream (it should not whip), 140 g of muscovado brown sugar, 100 g of flour, half a packet of cinnamon, and 2 g of fine salt.
Roll out 2/3 of the puff pastry and line a 28 cm (11 inches) springform pan, buttered and floured (I don’t butter the pan because I use a perforated pan v. Shopping Tips below), poke the bottom with a fork, pour all the apples and cover them with the cinnamon cream, cover everything with the remaining puff pastry and poke it again with a fork.
Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180°C (356°F) for about an hour, then take the cake out and quickly brush it with 20 ml of rum mixed with 50 g of granulated sugar, finish brushing with the remaining 20 ml of rum and put it back in the oven at 200°C (392°F) for 8 minutes under the broiler.
Let the cake cool, unmold it, and if desired, serve it accompanied with lightly whipped cream, along with a tablespoon of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Shopping Tips !!!
To prepare the puff pastry, I used my Titanium Chef Patissier XL with a 7-liter illuminated bowl and 1400 W power, integrated scale and blender, a faithful kitchen ally for: kneading, weighing, whipping, cooking, chopping, pasteurizing eggs.
If instead, you are looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer model, you can safely choose to purchase the Chef Baker Stand Mixer, with a 5-liter bowl, 1200 W power, and integrated scale included.
To perfectly bake the pie, you can purchase this perforated pan with a detachable bottom, very convenient because it does NOT need to be buttered, the small holes allow the moisture in the dough to escape and the oven heat to circulate more evenly through the dough and filling for a perfect flaky bake.
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