French Fridays with Dorie: Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake
October 29, 2010 at 12:01 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, french fridays w dorie, groups, simple cakes, sweet things | 27 Comments
I mentioned last time we met, that R and I went apple picking in Warwick, NY. Sometimes it’s really nice to escape the city and go to a place that looks like this. It’s also nice to have a bin full of apples at home! The first thing I did with them was to make Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake.
This cake is easy to make because it’s easy to mix. No creaming required, as it uses melted butter. I actually used browned butter in my cake, which wasn’t entirely intentional (I put it on to melt before I’d had my morning coffee), but as soon as I tasted the cake, I knew it wasn’t a mistake either. Rum and vanilla flavor the apples, and while you could use cinnamon instead if you wanted, I really think that apples and vanilla are a fabulous combination. I went a tad skimpy on the sugar measurement, because although I was using a mix of apple varieties (like Dorie and her friend Marie-Hélène recommend), they were all on the sweet side. There’s really only just enough batter here to hold together all the chunks of apple, and the result is an almost puddingy-soft texture inside. Definitely one I will make again.
For the recipe, see Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here on Epicurious). Don’t forget to check out my fellow francophiles’ posts!
Want more apple cake? How about Double Apple Bundt Cake, Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze, Applesauce Spice Bars or Applesauce Snack Cake?
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a whisk and a spoon 
mmmm browned.
Comment by Fiona— October 29, 2010 #
Your cake looks perfect!
Comment by Kate— October 29, 2010 #
Very lovely…am getting to it today, so this is incredibly inspiring for me to get myself in there NOW and bake it! Your posts/photos always so inspiring that way.
Comment by Kayte— October 29, 2010 #
Wasn’t this good? I hesitated about the rum but it’s a subtle flavor. Your cake is beautiful!
Comment by Audrey— October 29, 2010 #
Your cake looks wonderful! I’ve made this cake twice already and still couldn’t get the almost smooth top like Dorie’s and your cake.
Comment by KY— October 29, 2010 #
Oooh! I want to make this with browned butter!!!! I will do that for muffins as my ‘secret ingredient’ and I should have thought of it here as well!! mmmm
Trevor Sis Boom.
Comment by Trevor Sis Boom— October 29, 2010 #
Beautiful!!!
Comment by Liz @ Blog is the New Black— October 29, 2010 #
looks beautiful, I love the sound of the browned butter addition
Comment by Spike— October 29, 2010 #
Gorgeous! I love those large chunks of apples peeking through.
Comment by Valerie— October 29, 2010 #
I bet the browned butter was delicious in this cake! I just made a notation in my book to try that next time.
The addition of dark rum was a real pleasant surprise…it really added a great depth of flavor to the apples with overpowering it.
Comment by Linda— October 29, 2010 #
Hmmm – it looks absolutely glorious!
Comment by Eliana— October 29, 2010 #
Brown butter sounds like an excellent mistake!
Comment by Nic— October 29, 2010 #
I just added apples to my grocery list! Looks fantastic.
Comment by Arlene— October 29, 2010 #
I love your picture with the script writing…perfect for this week’s treat.
Comment by Mary— October 29, 2010 #
Looks lovely! I used cinnamon & nutmeg and almost ate the entire thing myself! 🙂
Comment by Jessica of My Baking Heart— October 29, 2010 #
I definitely have to try the browned butter. Great idea. Beautiful pictures.
Comment by StephIrey— October 29, 2010 #
love your type on the photo. very nice job.
Comment by Becky— October 29, 2010 #
browned butter! what a brilliant (if not accidental) idea! your cake looks so lovely and golden.
Comment by evilcakeladly— October 29, 2010 #
Yours looks perfect!
Comment by onewetfoot— October 30, 2010 #
Loved your post – I’ll try the burnt butter next time. Don’t you love those mistakes that actually make things better.
Comment by Claire— October 30, 2010 #
Perfectly golden brown! Looks like you’re on an apple kick this week 🙂
Comment by steph - stephsbitebybite— October 30, 2010 #
lovely looking cake!
Comment by Josefa— October 31, 2010 #
How wonderful to bake a cake using apples that you have picked! The bropwned butter sounds like pure serendipity. A beautiful cake Steph.
Comment by Cakelaw— October 31, 2010 #
Oooh…browned butter. Yum! Nice addition, even though it was unintentional! Just take credit anyway!
Comment by yummychunklet— October 31, 2010 #
Your cake looks so delicious and brown. Gorgeous!
Comment by Kelly— November 1, 2010 #
This looks amazing. I am definitely going to give this one a try; perfect for fall. I was wondering if I could make it without the rum (I don’t like buying a whole bottle of something just for one recipe), but a few comments mentioned the extra depth of flavor, so maybe I will. Thanks!
Comment by Janae— November 6, 2010 #
you could leave out the rum for sure, but it is really good!
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— November 6, 2010 #