Bake 1: Honey Apple Cake

I grew up in Washington, home of so many apples. To honor the Washington apple, I determined that the first bake of my 'bake-everything-from-GBBO' marathon should involve apples. Series 1, episode 1 was CAKE. The signature challenge involved the bakers being instructed to bake any cake they wanted using their creativity, and finishing within 3 hours. 

French apple cake is one of those easy classics that is good to keep in one's back pocket. It involves a buttery tender rum batter and lots of apples and this is my take on a layered version, with a buttery tender honey batter, lots of apples, and a cream cheese icing.

Ingredients

2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 sticks butter, at room temperature 

1 cup of sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey

4 baking apples, I used granny smith

Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons honey

Pinch of salt

3 cups (give or take) powdered sugar

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and prep two 9 inch cake pans. I am all about using baking spray with flour and the cake pans I use have a removable bottom. You could also line the bottom with parchment to ensure a clean turnout. 

Mix your flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. I did not sift for this recipe, just a good whisk about. 

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add your eggs 1 at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract and the honey. 

Add the dry ingredients and mix until there is just barely combined. 

Now you have to decide what to do with your apples. You can chop them all or you can chop two thirds of the apple and then slice the rest and arrange it across the tops of the cake before baking. That creates a layer of apples in the cake similar to dried apples. Once you have decided, stir in your chopped apples, and then separate the batter into the two pans. If layering, add the apple slices to the top. 

Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. I rotate halfway through because our oven is a little hotter on the left side than the right.

While the cake cools, make the icing. Cream the cream cheese, butter, and honey. Then slowly add the powdered sugar until you have the consistency you like. If it gets too thick, add a little milk. 

Once the cake is cooled, place the first layer on your plate or stand, add icing and spread. Add second layer, and repeat!  I topped mine with a drizzle of honey and a few apple slices that I baked. They were intended to look like flowers but my slices were a touch too thick. Stay tuned for more fruit flower attempts! 

Next up, the technical challenge, Victoria Sandwich.