Grandma’s Apple Cake

Recipes

Sep 14

This cake is something my Grandma made quite regularly growing up— and therefore something I ate very frequently. She lived in San Francisco in an apartment next to Ghirardelli Square with a windswept balcony that faced the bay. Almost weekly, my sister and I would cross the Golden Gate Bridge from Mill Valley to spend time at that apartment, surrounded by her meticulously maintained Chippendale dining room set and framed family photos. This recipe comes directly from her recipe card— written in her loopy cursive with each step carefully laid out. It’s really all about the apples and walnuts— in fact the cake is probably just a vehicle to hold the fruit and nuts together— but it’s still a tender moist cake that I can’t get enough of. I’ve added a pinch of five spice, I think Grandma would’ve approved. In the photo you’ll see the plate with green rim and measuring spoons— those were hers. Every time I use them in my own cooking I think of her. So, here you have my Grandma’s Apple Cake. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

2 cups ½” diced Granny Smith apples
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp five spice
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup all purpose flour

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter and flour a 9” x 9” baking pan (or an 8” round cake pan), line bottom with parchment, and set aside.

Add apples, sugar, cinnamon and five spice to a medium bowl and stir combine. Add olive oil, egg, nuts and salt and mix to combine.

Add flour and baking soda to a medium bowl and whisk combine. Add to apple mixture and mix until just combined.

Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack for 15 minutes, invert cake out and continue to cool for another 20 minutes.

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