Apple Brown Betty Cake

Vinny suspected something was amiss when he began to smell a decidedly strong odor of apples, wafting from the cupboard whenever he opened the door. He pulled out his brand new bag of apples for inspection. Alas, three of the apples were  already beginning to, well, rot. Out they went into the compost. But what to do with all the rest?

He had a recipe for a misty moisy apple cake on line, which he remembered as tasting nice. But it didn’t call for enough apples to make a dent in the pile of fruit he had on the counter.

So he googled an old favorite, apple crisp. It called for oats, though, and he had none on hand.

Next he thought he’d check out Apple Brown Betty, a recipe his grandmother learned how to make in Home Economics class when she was a girl, from Miss Lavender. But it had too much sugar and even called for a syrup topping to pour over everything.

So Vinny decided to take the best from all three recipes and make his own version.

Very brown indeed

Vinny’s apple brown betty cake
Serves 6

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

Apples

6-8 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1 tablespoon whole-grain pastry flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup water

Topping

• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or baby food prune puree)
• 1 egg at room temperature

• 2/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
• 2/3 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda .

For the apples

1. Place the sliced apples in a 2-quart buttered casserole.
2. Mix the sugar, flour and ground cinnamon together. Sprinkle over apples.
3. Pour water evenly over all.

For the topping

1. In a small mixing bowl, melt the coconut oil for a few seconds in the microwave oven. Let cool a bit if it gets too hot, so it doesn’t curdle the egg.
2. Whisk in the pureed prunes or apple sauce.
3. Whisk in the egg.
4. Combine the  flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl.
5. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the oil mixture. Whisk together gently just until it’s all mixed in.
6. Pour batter evenly over the apples in the casserole. Spread to the edges with a large spoon.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.
8. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Everyone liked this apple cake and no-one suspected it was made extra healthy by using coconut oil, coconut palm sugar and prune puree. The prunes resulted in the extra brown color of the dessert, without adding any off flavor notes. The super moist  cake topping was much superior in my humble opinion to the more traditional oats topping. I also thought the cake topping made for a more elegant presentation, holding everything together well. Will and Isla gave two thumbs up for Vinny’s apple brown betty cake.