German Sunken Apple Cake (Versunkener Apfelkuchen)
If you’re like me, you probably stock up on apples when they go on sale during peak apple season. Apples, especially the crisper varieties, can stay firm and fresh in the refrigerator for an exceptionally long time. And if they do get a little soft, that’s often not a detriment when baking.
As we ride out the tail end of apple season and stare down the looming holidays with all their culinary expectations, this cake is the perfect way to use any extra apples you might have, even those that are a little on the soft side. The vanilla butter cake provides the perfect canvas for sweet-tart apples hidden throughout, making for a simple, comforting, delicious treat.
Cakes like this belong to a long German tradition of butter-based apple cakes often called versunkener Apfelkuchen, or “sunken apple cake.” Similar recipes appear in German cookbooks going back at least to the early twentieth century. A 1910 Dr. Oetker booklet, for example, includes an Apfelkuchen sehr fein made with creamed butter and sugar, eggs and flour, with apples arranged over the batter and sugar sprinkled on top.
This style of cake is not one I was familiar with, and it may never have appeared on my radar if my younger son had not decided to take German this year. His teacher mentioned her Apfelkuchen in class, which led to him bringing it up in conversation at home. Since I’m apparently hardwired to remember baked goods, when parent-teacher conferences rolled around, after we finished discussing my son’s academic performance, I decided to ask about the apple cake. She immediately grabbed a scrap of paper and jotted down the recipe for me from memory, including a small illustration showing how the apples should be placed in the batter.
This is a cake she has made often over the years and one that is always a favorite when she brings it to gatherings. She mentioned that she originally found the recipe in a Bavarian cookbook, but I think when you’ve made a recipe often enough to share it from memory, complete with illustrated instructions, you’ve earned at least a little claim to it.
Her recipe does call for a couple of ingredients that may be unfamiliar to American bakers: Backpulver and Vanillezucker. Both are common baking ingredients in Germany and are typically sold in small packets. She stocks up whenever she is in Germany, where she can buy them at a reasonable price. You can order them online here in the United States, but in my case they cost roughly ten times as much per packet.
My son’s teacher was kind enough to share one packet of each so we could make the recipe as she does. I went ahead and bought a 12-pack of both Backpulver and Vanillezucker at the somewhat less appealing online price so I would have the correct ingredients on hand. But I also tested the recipe with the baking powder and vanilla I already had in my pantry.
The results are not identical, but I would not let that stop you from trying this cake. If you have the German ingredients, you can enjoy it much as it was originally shared with us. If you don’t, standard American baking powder and vanilla will still give you a delicious apple cake that is very close in character to the original.
Before deciding to publish the recipe, I did have my son ask his teacher for permission. So, many thanks to her—not only for sharing the recipe with the two of us, but for graciously allowing me to share it with all of you here.
German Sunken Apple Cake (Versunkener Apfelkuchen)
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Combine the flour and Backpulver in a medium bowl; set aside.250 g (2 cups) flour, 7.5 g (1 ½ tsp) Backpulver
- Combine the sugar and Vanillezucker in a second medium bowl; set aside.200 g (1 cup) sugar, 14 g (1 tbsp) Vanillezucker
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Slowly add the sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating to combine after each addition.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.
- Spread the batter evenly in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Press the apple slices vertically into the batter, with the cut edges down and the curved edges facing up.
- If desired, sprinkle the surface lightly with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
- Bake until golden and the center springs back lightly when touched, about 50 minutes in a glass pan. See notes for metal pans.
- Allow to cool before slicing and serving. Store leftovers tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Pan: If using a metal 9×13-inch pan instead of glass, expect the cake to bake about 10 minutes faster. Begin checking for doneness around 35 minutes; mine were fully baked closer to 40 minutes.
- Backpulver: German baking powder can be replaced with standard American baking powder. Do not substitute baking soda.
- Vanillezucker: German vanilla sugar can be replaced with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract added with the wet ingredients.
- Apples:
- The apples should be small or “lunch box” size if shopping in the United States – the loose, bulk apples in American stores are much larger and you will need fewer of them.
- The apple slices may be used as-is or soaked in rum, apple juice, or cider before adding them to the cake. I tested soaking the slices in cider just while mixing the cake batter and overnight – both options worked well. I would stick to the shorter soak if using rum.
Private Notes
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