Apple cinnamon cake

Happy Friday people! Wishing a great weekend for everyone.

A recipe I tried last week and thought it was great and worth sharing! Enjoy it!

Ingredients for cake:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup hot water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened, cut in dices
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the apples:

3 medium apples (I used pink lady)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon of butter

For the frosting:

Heavy cream
Glass sugar
Vanilla extract

Instructions for cake

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 degrees F. Grease and flour or line with parchment paper, a 9″ round pan. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add egg, buttermilk and oil. Whisk together. Add hot water and whisk well until the batter is smooth. It will be runny but that’s okay. If you are using a spring form pan, make sure the two parts are well attached so you don’t loose your batter if it leaks.
Combine diced butter, with tablespoon of flour, sugar and cinnamon (it will be as the crumble mixture)
Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap the pan gently against the counter to release any air bubbles. Drop over the surface the crumble mixture.
Bake cake for 25 to 30 min or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in a few places comes out clean.
Cool in pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. Set aside.

Raw batter ready to be placed in the oven.

Instructions for apples

Peel apples and cut them in small dices.
In a heated pan, add the butter to melt and then drop the apples.
Once the butter has melted, mix the apples and slowly add sugar and cinnamon.
Mix well.
Add water and let simmer until apples are slightly crunchy.

Instructions for the frosting

Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks are formed.
Add sugar in small quantities and keep mixing. The amount of sugar usually depends on taste/sweetness preference, and it won’t affect too much the texture of the final cream. Add about 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix.

Assemble the cake

Cool the cake and place it on display surface.
Place the apples on top of it, and if there is any caramel from the mixture make sure to put it over the cake as well, so it can add to the softness and taste of the cake.
Decorate with frosting. I used a 1M wilton piping tip and a plastic piping bag. Create a pattern and have fun with the finishing touches of your cake.

Note: The idea is to have three different textures: Spongy texture from the cake, slightly crunchy bite from the apples (that is why they are not cooked all the way to be soft or even placed to bake along with the cake as the upside down cakes) and soft/silky touch from the whipped cream.