Marlene's Covered Apple Cake
The original recipe from Book 1
At the end of a case that began between apple and cinnamon, a slice of cake simply belongs. This is the covered apple cake with which Hanna Förster brings the Café Eichhörnchen back to life — from Marlene's recipe, reconstructed as faithfully as a round pencil scrawl in the margin of a yellowed notebook would allow.
- Prep time
- 30 minutes
- Bake time
- 50–60 minutes
- Total
- about 2 hours (including 30 minutes chilling)
- Yield
- 1 cake (26 cm / 10 inch springform tin), about 12 slices
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry
- 300 g (2½ cups) plain flour
- 150 g (⅔ cup) cold butter, cubed
- 100 g (½ cup) sugar
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of salt
For the filling
- 1 kg (about 2¼ lb) tart apples (such as Bramley or Granny Smith)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- a splash of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
Method
- From the flour, cold butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, egg and salt, quickly knead a shortcrust pastry — not too long, or it turns tough. Wrap it in cling film and chill for at least thirty minutes.
- Peel the apples, core them and cut into thin slices. Mix with the sugar, cinnamon and a splash of lemon juice, and leave to stand for a moment.
- Roll out two thirds of the pastry and line the base and sides of the greased tin with it. Scatter the breadcrumbs over the base — they soak up the juice so the base doesn't go soggy — then layer the apples on top.
- From the remaining pastry, roll out a lid, or cut strips for a lattice, and lay it over the top.
- Bake at 180 °C (350 °F, conventional) for about 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. If your oven bakes hotter on one side, turn the tin once halfway through.
- Best served lukewarm, with a dollop of cream and a cup of coffee.