Cook's Illustrated Apple Cake

I came across a picture of this cake when I was surfing the food blogs.  I found it was a recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  Most Cook's Illustrated recipes are only available to paying members of their site.  Luckily, they have a free 2-week trial.  So I signed up and grabbed as many recipes as I could find.


So, Cook's Illustrated Apple Cake can be found here for those you pay, or want to try it out free for 2-weeks.  Did you know, Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen recipes are developed right here in my state of Massachusetts?  Actually, in the town next to where we live, Brookline!    I even did some cat sitting for someone who works there, and I'm very jealous of her job.  But I digress....

The first step to making this apple cake is to butter and sugar your bundt pan and add a layer of brown sugar at the bottom.

Next, chop your green apples, toss them with some more brown sugar and layer them on top of the brown sugar already in the bundt.  You could also toss the apples with some cinnamon.

Next, combine your dry ingredients, and your wet ingredients.  This recipe uses cake flour, which gives the cake the texture of a pound cake.  The batter is very thick.

And then bake!  I had a hard time figuring out if this cake was done, since the middle still looked a bit loose even after 45 minutes.  Once it's done, you're supposed to immediately invert the cake onto a foil-lined baking rack.  Well, this part wasn't so easy!  Part of the apples and cake stuck to the bundt!  I think perhaps it had something to do with sugaring the pan??  Either way, it smelled delicious, like a warm apple pie.

I just picked the stuck-on pieces out of the pan and put them in the middle of the cake.

After the cake cools completely, top it with some confectioner's sugar.  I also made some Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cream to be served alongside.  I have to say, the cake was good, but very sweet.  The Bourbon Cream, which is made with sour cream, gave it a nice tang to cut the sweetness.  The cake was good the day it was served, but the leftovers weren't so great.

Here's the recipe for the Brown Sugar Bourbon Cream - Printable Recipe