A splash of liquor can elevate a simple cake into something altogether more sophisticated. In this one, raisins are soaked in dark rum before going into the batter of a classic French apple cake. As the alcohol evaporates during baking, what remains is the rum’s essence and flavor.
Rum Raisin Apple Cake
Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: SimpleServings
8
servingsPrep time
30
minutesBaking time
1
hourA splash of liquor elevates this simple apple cake into something altogether more sophisticated.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups raisins
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 apples, such as Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp or Fuji
8 1/2 tablespoons (115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1⅓ cups (140 g) confectioners’ sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (200 g) all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons apricot jam
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a medium (8- by 4- by 1/2-inch) loaf pan with parchment. Use enough parchment to create a 3-inch overhang so that the cake can be lifted out of the pan once it’s baked.
- Place raisins in a small bowl. Cover with boiling water. Let sit a minute or two, then drain. Bring 2 tablespoons of rum to a boil and pour over raisins. Set aside to macerate.
- Peel and core apples. Cut them into 1/2-inch chunks.
- Using an electric mixer, whip butter until smooth. Pour in 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, a bit at a time, and continue to beat until the mixture is pale and creamy. One by one, add eggs, beating after each addition. The mixture should be homogenous.
- Place sieve over a separate mixing bowl and sift in flour, salt and baking powder . Use a rubber spatula to gently but decisively fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Fold in raisins and their rum, and then the apples.
- While the cake is baking, heat up the apricot jam.
- Bake the cake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 – 60 minutes. Remove from oven, but do not remove cake from pan. Brush top of the cake with warm apricot jam. Set aside to come to room temperature.
- Just before serving, remove cake from pan using parchment overhang. Discard parchment. In a small pan, combine the remaining tablespoon of rum with the remaining 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar. Stir to combine ober very low heat for no more than 1 minute. Drizzle glaze over cake and serve.
