French Apple Cake

It's Fall. The leaves here in Germany are turning color. I'm frantically baking/cooking to finish as much of my pantry items as possible. Yes, you read it right, I'm moving again. It's time for me to pack up and move across the ocean back to California. I'm only here in Germany for 18 months, I still cannot speak fluent German (I claim to be just restaurant proficient =p)

Back in the summer, I baked this French Apple Cake from David Lebovitz. The flavor is surprisingly clean, if you're used to the American classic combo of apple + cinnamon. I later baked it couple more times, bringing it to dinner party etc. We had it on its own, had it with vanilla ice cream, had it warm, had it cold...you name it...it's delicious!

French Apple Cake
Adapted from French Apple Cake by Dave Lebovitz
yields one round (20cm, roughly 8") cake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup (110g) flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• ~3-5 large apples (any kind)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (110g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons Cognac
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 tablespoons (115g) butter, salted or unsalted, melted and cooled to room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven.
2. Line the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch (20-23cm) springform pan with parchment paper, heavily butter the side of the pan, and place it on a baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into thin slices.
5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy then whisk in the sugar, then Cognac and vanilla. Whisk in half of the flour mixture, then gently stir in half of the melted butter
6. Stir in the remaining flour mixture, then the rest of the butter.
7. Fold in the apple until they’re well-coated with the batter and scrape them into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top a little with a spatula.
8. Bake the cake for 50 minute to 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake from the pan and carefully remove the sides of the cake pan, making sure no apples are stuck to it.

Note:

• The original recipe called for dark rum, but I didn't have any on hand. I'm not a big fan of rum in dessert (in many cases, I feel they're too bland), so I don't stock rum at home nor would I go out and buy a bottle for recipes. I used French Cognac instead, and I tried it with Amaretto later too. Personally I like Cognac better than Amaretto for this cake. 
• I've made this cake with as little as 3 apples and as many as 5 apples. They all turned out delicious. I think they key here is just make sure there's enough batter to coat the apples. I like it better with less apple, coz there's more cake to be eaten. But it's good regardless