Korena in the Kitchen

I’ve been eagerly anticipating Luisa Weiss‘ new book, Classic German Baking, ever since she first started sharing her adventures in recipe development about a year ago. I have yet to get my hands on the actual book, but since its release, several recipes have popped up online, including one for a completely gorgeous apple-marzipan cake, which is described as “epic“. In the fall, I’m a sucker for anything apple, and almonds are quickly becoming my favourite flavour for almost everything, so this cake was immediately added to my weekend baking list.

Instead of store-bought almond past, I made my own, which is as easy as grinding almonds, sugar, butter, and egg white in a food processor. I also took the opportunity to incorporate some poached quinces into the cake along with the apples. When I went to glaze the top of the cake, I discovered I was out of the suggested apricot jam, so instead I used vibrant magenta quince jelly, which gave the cake a pretty rosy tint and some extra quince-y flavour.

Coming out of the oven, this cake looked as epic as promised, and I was pretty excited to cut myself a slice. I had extremely high hopes for the taste, and I’ll admit that I was a little bit underwhelmed at first – I think I wanted it to be more almond-y (my own fault because my tiny bottle of almond extract was mostly empty and didn’t quite contain the amount required for the recipe). Nate opined that the cake would be better as an upside-down cake, or better yet, a cheesecake! (Do you think he’s dropping hints?! 😉 ) But as I made my way through that first slice, the subtle flavours and dense, almost creamy texture grew on me and by the time it was nothing but crumbs on the plate, I was already looking forward to my next piece. The following few days I found the flavour and texture had gotten even better, so I think this is the type of cake that needs a day or two to mellow, the type of cake that sits on the kitchen counter and invites you to carve off a big slice to enjoy slowly as an afternoon snack, dense and apple-y and moist from the almond paste.

Apple-Quince-Almond Cake {Apfel-Quitte-Marzipan-Kuchen}

Adapted from Classic German Baking, via Food52. Makes one 9″ round cake.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F (325˚F convection). Butter the sides of a 9″ springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Peel, core and halve 700 g apples (1.5 lbs / about 5 small apples). Take half of the apples and cut each apple half into 6 slices. Place them in a bowl along with 50 g (1.7 0z) sliced poached quince and toss with the juice of half a lemon.

Dice the remaining apples into 1/3 inch pieces. Place them in a bowl with 50 g (1.7 oz) diced poached quince toss with the juice of half a lemon.

Break up 200 g (7 oz) almond paste (store-bought or homemade – recipe below) (or grate it on a cheese grater if it is very solid) and place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add:

1/4 tsp salt

200 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) melted and cooled unsalted butter

Beat on low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Beat in:

150 g (3/4 cup) granulated white sugar

3/4 tsp almond extract

…followed by 4 large eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:

150 g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) all purpose flour

85 g (9 1/2 tbsp) cornstarch

2 tsp baking powder

Stir thoroughly into the almond batter.

Fold in the diced apples and quince, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top level.

Arrange the sliced apples and quince in concentric circles on top of the batter, pressing the fruit lightly into the batter so that it adheres.

Bake in the preheated 350˚F (325˚F convection) oven for about 70 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool.

Immediately place 1/4 cup quince jelly or apricot jam in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a boil. With a pastry brush, glaze the warm cake with the hot jelly/jam.

Let the cake cool completely before running a knife around the edge and removing the sides of the pan. The cake can be kept, wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for several days.

Homemade Almond Paste

Adapted from Simply So Good. Makes about 300 g (~10 oz) almond paste, which will give you a little more than you need for the cake above.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine:

227 g (1 cup) blanched slivered almonds

50 g (1/4 cup) granulated white sugar

pinch fine sea salt

Process until very finely ground and powdery.

Add:

1 egg white

2 tbsp softened unsalted butter

1 tsp almond extract

Process until the mixture comes together in a ball.

Shape into a log and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Can be stored in the fridge for at least a month, and even longer in the freezer.

To use immediately in the cake above, no need to refrigerate first – just break it up with your fingers while it is still soft and proceed with the recipe.

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