French Apple Bourbon Birthday Cake

Birthday time!!! One of my favorite cakes to make as late is Amanda McClements' (a local DC blogger) French Apple Cake from Metrocurean. So simple to make! Fabulous buttery vanilla mixed with rum gives just the right amount of sweetness and moisture to the batter. The ingredients list is simple, and you're likely to have everything on the shelf already save maybe the fresh apples. Reminds me of some of the 'tea cakes' in Europe.

With my latest focus on bourbon (and recently aquired treats from bourbon country), I decided to experiment some with the recipe (marked with changes below). Happy to report the results were more than just edible...they were om-nomalicious. #omg #joygasm


French Apple Cake
serves 6-8

1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off with knife
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon
2 sweet baking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (such as honeycrisp, fuji or golden delicious)
Bourbon (granulated)sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch springform or regular cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

Using a handheld mixer with beaters or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffly, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. Beat in vanilla and bourbon. Don’t worry if the batter looks grainy. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in chopped apples.

Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Bake cake for about 40 minutes, or until cake is lightly golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool until just warm. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove sides of springform pan if using. Dust with sugar if desired. Cake can be served warm or room temperature, with or without lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.