apple cake

I had some sour cream left in the fridge from making this spiced apple cake recipe. Not wanting to let the sour cream go to waste, I found this recipe which I thought would be able to use up the remainder of my sour cream (when halved). Note that I think buttermilk and sour cream are interchangeable. It's a tasty and moist apple cake, and a bit quicker to make than the spiced apple cake as this recipe doesn't require the apples to be stewed beforehand. The recipe comes with maple icing, but I thought it was perfectly scrumptious without.

Verdict: It reminds me of the apple cinnamon muffins from Muffin Break :)
Score: 8/10

The halved recipe below.

Apple Cake

Ingredients

# 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
# 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
# 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
# 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
# 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
# 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
# 1/4 cup (2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
# 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
# 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
# 1 large egg
# 1/3 cup buttermilk
# 1 cup Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces

Method

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and line the bottom and sides of a small loaf tin (the original recipe asks for a 9-inch square baking pan, but that would be for the full amount, not the halved recipe).

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda; set aside.

Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 2 minutes.

Add the vanilla extract, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Using a spatula add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the buttermilk in two additions and mixing just until blended (flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour). (The original recipe says to beat the flour and buttermilk however I believe in mixing these ingredients by hand.) Stir in the chopped apples.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, until it is golden and toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack.