With this Irish Apple Cake there are no tricks, only sweet treats! An easy spice laced batter is brought to life with seasonal apples and finished with a texturally delightful crumble topping. Pair with a cream frosting for a decadent way to celebrate Samhain!
The edges of the town seem more foreboding. Ominous without logic. Fears without thought. The waves lick the foundations of the costal town, curling and uncurling like serpents tongues.
The sea is pushed back only by a sharp hollowed wind. Any other day the gut instincts—which one can stuff into a back pocket—categorized as an archaic accessory, crawl up from behind. Don’t go. Not now. Ebony shadows don’t reflect the bonfire’s light. The world, haloed with darkness, looks untouched. One could get lost, as do those ships sailing towards off course horizons.
The flames have grown large by now. A spectrum of hellish hues, the embers, like a vice, only soothe you for a fleeting moment or two.
Pomona’s hand dips into the end of summer festivities. The lingering Roman touch, a mystical deity, folklores full of plenty and harvest. Superstition shadows it all—twist the stems, peel the skins. Answers lay in the rituals, what unfolds is telling. The connections, we bind to and unbind from, are complex—a Celtic knot within itself. On Samhain, life skirts around these partitions, the divisions that make life and death so binary.
Stay close to the town’s bonfire guiding the spirits, as the night lingers and does not leave.
Irish Apple Cake
A way to really get into the classic Samhain Halloween mood. The original Halloween costume was a deterrent against spirits. as the spirits wandered the earth, covering the face with bonfire ash, was a way to prevent a spirit from tricking you. Yet unlike the ghouls and ghosts, you won’t have to roam the earth searching for a reward. This cake will certainly be your treat. A nutmeg spiced cake is shingled with a bounty of apples, garnished with a thick layer of crumble topping.
Baking Talk
This recipe is for two. One cake for the spirits and one for the baker, but it it can easily be halved.
Slice the apples thin, about a quarter of an inch thick, that way they break down and blend with the batter.
Other Related Recipes:
Follow me on Pinterest and Instagram
Irish Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the Crumble Topping:
- 1 cup unsalted butter very soft (226g)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 300g
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
For the Irish Apple Cake:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 300g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter 226g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 4 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons buttermilk
- 3 green apples sliced thin
For the Cream Frosting:
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese very soft
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 vanilla bean scraped
Instructions
To make the Crumble:
- Mash butter and sugar together, add cinnamon, salt, and flour, mixing until uniformed and granular. Set aside.
To make the Irish Apple Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans with baking spray, set aside.
- Whisk together first four ingredients, set aside in a bowl. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and airy, about 4 to 5 minutes on medium speed. Scrape bowl frequently. Add in eggs one at a time, beating between each addition to combine.
- Alternate adding the dry mixture and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Scrape the bowl frequently.
- Using a spoon spread some of batter into the bottom of the prepared pans place an even layer of apples on top. Repeat the process again. Top the cakes with the crumble, pressing it down into the cake.
- Bake cakes for 30 to 40 minutes, a toothpick inserted will come out without wet batter sticking to it.
- Let cakes cool in pans for 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the Cream Frosting:
- Combine the mascarpone and butter with a rubber spatula. Mix in powdered sugar a vanilla beans. Switch to a whisk to make mixture smooth and lump free. Serve with warm cake.