Description
A classic Irish Apple Cake featuring tender cake layers with tart Granny Smith apples, topped with a crunchy oat streusel and served with a rich homemade custard sauce. This comforting dessert is perfect for gatherings and traditional Irish celebrations.
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 (a little over 1 pound 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 the cake doesn’t stick during baking.
- Make Custard Sauce: Heat milk to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until combined. Slowly drizzle hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking constantly, then return everything to the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, being careful not to overcook it. Stir in vanilla extract, strain through a sieve, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent skin formation, and chill in the refrigerator.
- Prepare Streusel Topping: Cut cold butter into the flour, sugar, and oats until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Refrigerate the topping until ready to use.
- Make Cake Batter: Cream the room temperature butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture along with the milk or cream until just combined.
- Assemble Cake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it evenly. Arrange the sliced apples evenly over the batter. Sprinkle the chilled streusel topping over the apples.
- Bake: Bake for 60 minutes until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean without wet batter.
- Cool and Serve: Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before removing. Dust with confectioner’s sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature with chilled custard sauce.
Notes
- Use Granny Smith apples for their tartness and firm texture, which hold up well during baking.
- To prevent custard curdling, cook it slowly over medium heat and remove from heat as soon as it thickens.
- Keep the butter cold when making streusel for a crumbly texture.
- If you don’t have a springform pan, a regular 9-inch cake pan can be used but greasing well is essential.
- Custard sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated for convenience.
- For a richer cake, substitute half the milk with cream in the batter.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/10 of cake)
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 140 mg
