Huckleberry's Whole-Wheat Apple Butter Cake

That slice of cake up there. Looks so innocent, so pure. Right? Rustic, grainy, apple-studded; why it couldn't harm a fly if it tried.

Yeah. Except, let me tell you. This rustic, grainy, apple-studded cake is one two-faced little minx. Underneath that homely interior is a cleavage-flashing, loose-morals-toting, floozy of a cake, capable of reducing grown men to quivering fools and accomplished bakers to white-flag-waving quitters.

It even made my electric mixer start to smoke.

It starts out innocently enough. A bowl full of almond meal, fragrant and nubbly, whole-wheat flour, sunny cornmeal and a bit of all-purpose for good measure.

And then, bam!, along comes one whole pound of butter (breathe, breathe) plus a whole pound of sugar (see what I mean?) and Eight. Whole. Eggs. to drag that bowl of good intentions right down a one-way street to damnation.

If you, like me, are using an electric mixer that predates your birth, I'd advise you to skip this recipe unless you like it when the motor begins to emit a high whine, then a thin stream of smoke and then becomes uncomfortably hot in your hands. I don't ever actively wish I had a stand mixer (counter space real estate is precious, no matter what city I live in), but this cake changed all that. In a flash.

Strumpet!

Also, you're going to need the biggest bowl you own for this cake, along with the biggest pan you can muster. This cake, man. Take it from me, it's like a baby kitten that looks all sweet and tiny at the pound and then grows up to be a coon cat, capable of opening sliding doors with handles once fully grown.*

I'm just trying to warn you, is all. I guess I was forewarned, too, what with phrases like "unabashedly rich" and "no shortage of butter" rolling around the description of Huckleberry's apple butter cake, but I must not have been paying attention or something. Or, more likely, I let myself get snowed by all those virtuous other ingredients. (Baby kitten eyes.) I can be so naive.

This cake is the biggest, baddest thing I've baked in a while. It is intensely rich and not for the faint of heart. In fact, I think it should come with a warning sign: "Only to be eaten in slices less than 0.5 inches in thickness." Any bigger than that and you'll be fighting with the food sweats before you're done with one slice. Take it from me; I actually saw this happen.

The cake does also happen to be delicious. Which is nice. The texture is wonderful, grainy, toothsome and firm, and the moist little pockets of cooked apple are a welcome relief. In fact, the cake could even handle a little more apple than called for in the original recipe (noted below). Nutty and sweet (you should leave off the sugar topping, also noted below), the vanilla notes really pop between all those apples and butter. Hoo boy, this most definitely is not your average simple apple cake.

Keep it filed away for those days when you've got to bake for a crowd, when you know you'll have at least 10 eaters to help whittle away the enormous, buttery, burnished round. Or, you know, if you're surreptitiously trying to kill your oldest kitchen appliance so that you simply have no choice but to buy a shiny new stand mixer. Or! If you're entering a contest for Foxiest Apple Cake Ever. You'd totally win. Totally.

*True story!

Whole-Wheat Apple Butter Cake
Makes 1 10-inch cake

Cooked apples

2 tablespoons butter
1.5 to 2 pounds apples, peeled and cut into large chunks (about 4 or 5 cups)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the apples, then the sugar and salt, tossing to coat completely. Cook, stirring often, until the apples are just softened, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and spread out the apples on a rimmed baking sheet to stop the cooking process. Set aside to cool.

Cake assembly

2 cups (7 ounces) almond meal
1 cup (4.5 ounces) whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (2.5 ounces) cornmeal
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 pound butter
2 1/4 cups (1 pound) sugar
8 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Cooked apples

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-by-3-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the almond meal, whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until softened. With the mixer going, beat in 1 pound sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, then beat in the vanilla.

4. Beat in the dry ingredients, a spoonful at a time, just until incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix.

5. Fold in the cooked apples by hand. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan.

6. Bake the cake in the center of the oven until the cake is risen and a rich golden brown on top, springs back when touched, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 11/2 hours. Check the cake after 1 hour; if it browns too quickly, loosely tent the top with a piece of foil.

7. Remove the cake to a rack. Cool for 15 minutes before removing the cake.

Comments

[Giulia Pines]

I would love to try this despite my antediluvian hand mixer, but where, pray tell, does one find almond meal and cornmeal in Berlin??

[OdinKnows]

I love your blog, and this may be my favorite post ever. Thank you!

[Luisa]

Giulia - I bought the almond meal at a random bio store in Kreuzberg, but some regular grocery stores carry it, too. I used polenta for the cornmeal, but you can also find Maismehl at bio stores.

Odin - thank YOU!

[Jennifer Jo]

Luisa, You are a QUEEN when it comes to selling a recipe!

This cake is TOTALLY down my alley. You know how I know? One pound of butter does not faze me at ALL---like the proverbial carrot in front of the ass, it excites me, energizes me, and gets me up off my duff and out into the kitchen. Amen.

[Liana]

What is it about apple cakes? Most Thanksgivings, I make a certain apple cake, but a few years ago I told my husband I wasn't making it again until I had a newer, larger stand mixer (I'd been using one built in the mid-'70s), which I of course ended up purchasing right before Thanksgiving the next year.

This cake looks like it's worth it too.

[Sharmila]

Luisa, I've loved your blog for as long as I can remember. I always thought it was purely for two reasons: one - because you are one of the most engaging writers I know, two - most of the recipes you blog about make me wish I was in the kitchen making them, not at my desk, reading about them.
Today, I had an epiphany that truly clinched for me why I am *stalking-this-blog-so-much-it-ought-to-be-illegal*-ly crazy about this blog. Again, two reasons why; one - I think about something and you write about it. I've been obsessing about Mark Bittman's boozy apple cake and you wrote about apple cake(!), two - you used the word 'surreptitiously' in your post, a word I added just this morning to my decidedly-my-favourite-words list(!!). Just.this.morning.
How could I have missed it? You write about stuff I think about! (ok, so I know it's a different recipe, but truly, it's happened in the past-lemon scones, chana, chicken salad...) And the words, I always find words in your writing that enthrall me.
Alright, I hope all those exclamation points haven't worried you into quietly reaching for a phone to ask if virtual restraining orders are a possibility. I just wanted to write here and say that I love to read your writing, it's fantastic and as always, I'll keep reading it but now with the added benefit of making sense of my food related thoughts.
Also wanted to add that I'm not nuts. May be that ship already sailed though? Rats..
(*whew* this has to be my longest comment ever, and also, that much butter in one cake just seems wrong, but even if it's good)

[Suzy]

My Lidl always has ground almonds and Rewe has both, always.
Luisa, I was giggling the whole way through this post, such vivid images you paint.

[noëlle {simmer down!}]

You're so right... "whole wheat apple cake" sounds so benign, like something your granny would cook for you. Not a recipe I probably would have tried if not for your exclamations to the contrary!

[Giulia]

Your 'bam' made me think of Emeril, your butter made me think of Julia Childs and your hand mixer story I can really relate to as mine broke making a batch of X-mas cookies in December...the whole whining of the motor, smoke and then my darn thing zapped me as a final punishment.

[Luisa]

Jennifer Jo - thank you!

Sharmila - your comment put a smile on my face and made my day, thank you so much. A happy reader makes for a very happy blogger!

Suzy - xo

[Pennie]

Beautiful post Luisa--love your writing style! And I want to run to the kitchen right now and bake up that cake. Have had a few mishaps with hand mixers myself, but I can brave the whining and steaming at this point. Great recipe...

[Jacqui]

Your description of this cake has made my day! Luckily I have a good stand mixer around in case I do want to attempt making it!

[Victoria]

Oh, Luisa. I just got a 10 x 3-inch springform pan to (bake a triple mousse cake - rather retro but really delicious) so now I just have to get the goods to make your delicious-sounding cake.

Do you just grind unblanched almonds to get almond meal?

[Maria @ Scandifoodie]

That sounds gorgeous, I'm a huge fan of apple cakes!

[Stephanie]

Oh, man. I've lived across the street from Huckleberry Cafe for over 2 years and I have never had this cake! Their cheddar bacon biscuits, however, have made their way to my belly on more occasions than I have time to count. And now I hear about from someone an ocean or two away and I feel the sudden urge to RUN to get a slice. You sure have a way with words (but that's why we all come back, right? Your words are golden!)

I'm not sure how I missed this recipe or this cake, but I'm well on my way to rectifying that mistake. The stand mixer better get ready...

[Lia]

Luisa, you really are a talented writer. And photographer. I can't wait to read your book. I'm a little unsure I'm ready for a cake like this, but maybe it's just the thing I need before I give up sweets for Lent!

[CityLifeEats]

I adore the description of this cake. It sounds so wholesome at first, but is so not. And love the coon true story :)

[The Food Hunter]

Totally thought it was a healthy cake...doesn't matter though I'll eat it anyway...it looks so good.

[Chihiro]

I literally gasped when I saw the pound of butter. You are so brave. Loved this post!

[Michelle]

My oh my darling! That is the best description of a cake I have read in ages. You totally win!

[Jen]

Cornmeal, almond meal, whole wheat flour--Oh My! Sounds hearty and delicious.

[Janae]

I love apple cakes like no other, but I gotta say: I just don't think I could do the pound of butter OR the pound of sugar OR the eight eggs. My hat's off to you, Luisa, for braving the ingredients! (Sounds like it was totally worth it though!)

[Sense of Home]

This looks delicious and sounds incredibly rich!

-Brenda

[kt]

Mmmm... apple cake. Great story, too. I can almost taste it.

[Gabrielle]

I find it funny that so many people are startled by the use of a pound of butter. That is, after all, where the cake known as pound cake got it's name. The original recipe called for a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of flour, and a pound of eggs. I love the old fashionedness of this recipes ingredients. I will decidedly be making this soon! Thank you for sharing this recipe, and doing it so creatively. Reading your words was as good as eating that luscious looking cake

[Nina]

Looks delicious. Love food sweats. And a pound of butter.

[Noelle [xobreakfast]]

I think this cake should have a fan club and nominate you for president.

When I made it, I halved the recipe except for the apples and baked it in a loaf pan. And shared it reluctantly.

[Life Coach]

Every time I look at your blog the photos and especially the colours blow me away - and that's before I even begin to look at the food. Thanks for the inspiration - I think my partner is fed up with me pointing out your amazing photos and styling. He's the amateur photographer and maybe he thinks I expect him to meet your standard!

[Shelly]

I've made everyone I know read your description of this cake, and now I'm off to make it! Thanks for the chuckle and what sounds to be a great cake.

[Nuts about food]

That is the funniest post you have written in a while, and let me tell you I enjoy ALL your posts. And I discovered Maine coon cats too! Plus a good recipe...what more can a girl ask for?

[TheKitchenWitch]

The minute you called that cake a strumpet, you had me. Strumpet cakes are all too rare these days.

ps: our cat, Harryboy, can turn on the kitchen faucet. He thinks he's as cool as James Dean.

[Beth]

Oh, wow - that sounds too good to be true.

[Rocky Mountain Woman]

ok, I'm in....

sigh..

[Sara]

My kitchenaid stand mixer is in the shop, which has been very annoying to me, but maybe it is a good thing...though I'm simultaneously more impatient than ever!

[Shaheen {The Purple Foodie}]

A wholewheat cake? My mom will thank you (yeah, so what if it has a pound of butter, 8 eggs - it's still WHOLEwheat. :))

[Molly]

Ha! I actually had to scroll back up to take a second look, after spying that admirable stack of butter. I'm thinking this is SO my kind of cake...

[gloria]

look delicious!

[Luisa]

Victoria - yes!

Stephanie - lucky you! :)

Lia - thank you!

KitchenWitch - that is awesome.

Shaheen - that's the spirit!