Description
Irish Apple Cake is a classic dessert featuring tender cake layered with sliced Granny Smith apples and topped with a crunchy streusel. Served best with a rich homemade custard sauce, this comforting cake makes for a delightful treat perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 Tbsp whole milk or cream
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- about 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1 lb after slicing)
- confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Streusel Topping
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 6 Tbsp unsalted cold butter, cut in small pieces
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Custard Sauce
- 6 large egg yolks
- 6 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk (or half and half or cream)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9 inch springform pan to ensure easy removal of the cake after baking.
- Make Custard Sauce: Heat the milk to a simmer over medium heat. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until well combined. Slowly drizzle some hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking constantly to temper the eggs, then add this mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. Cook slowly over medium heat, stirring constantly until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Strain the custard through a sieve into a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface, and refrigerate until fully chilled.
- Prepare Streusel Topping: Combine the cold butter pieces with flour, oats, and sugar. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to blend until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, cream together the room temperature butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually fold these dry ingredients into the butter mixture along with the milk or cream, mixing gently to combine.
- Assemble Cake: Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared springform pan and smooth the surface. Layer the sliced apples evenly over the batter, then sprinkle the chilled streusel topping over the apples.
- Bake Cake: Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean without wet batter sticking.
- Cool and Serve: Allow the cake to cool slightly in the pan before removing the sides of the springform. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm or at room temperature with chilled custard sauce.
Notes
- For best results, use Granny Smith apples for their tartness and firmness that hold up well during baking.
- Make the custard sauce ahead of time so it can properly chill and thicken in the refrigerator.
- Keep the butter cold when making the streusel topping to achieve a nice crumbly texture.
- If a springform pan is unavailable, a regular 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment can be used, but removing the cake will be more difficult.
- To avoid overcooking the custard, cook it slowly and remove from heat as soon as it thickens to coat the back of a spoon.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/10th cake)
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg
