Apple Cake with Almonds Crust

My dear sister-in-law gave us apples which were hand-plucked from a relative's garden.  The idea of baking an apple cake with a slight twist came into my mind.  So, I decided to bake this delicious apple cake for our tea-time today.  The almonds crust topping is similar to the popular german Bienenstitch cake.

Ingredients:

5 medium-size Boskop apples (about 800 g)

175 butter

175 g fine sugar

3 medium-size eggs

1 pkt Bourbon vanilla sugar

250 ml plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

a little butter, for greasing

a 26 cm diameter cake springform

Topping Ingredients:

40 g butter

40 g fine sugar

40 g almond slices

Method:

Grease the bottom and sides of springform with butter.  Then, line the bottom with baking paper. Sift flour and baking powder together into a bowl and add salt.  Mix well and leave aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk butter and sugar until light and creamy.

Add eggs one at a time, alternating with about 3 tbsps of flour mixture.  Then, fold in the remaining flour.

Pour half of cake batter into springform and spread evenly with a spatula or spoon. Peel and quarter 2 apples, then slice into wedges.  Arrange apple wedges as shown.

Pour remaining cake batter on top and spread evenly.  Peel and quarter remaining apples, then slice into wedges.  Arrange apple wedges as shown.

Bake in a preheated fan oven at a temperature of 150° C for about 35 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the topping by gently melting butter in a saucepan.  Add sugar and remove from heat.  Leave to cool down before adding the almond slices.

Once cake is done, remove from oven.  Add topping mixture and spread evenly.

Bake further at a temperature of 175° C for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Once done, check with a skewer. If the top browns rather quickly, cover cake with a piece of aluminium foil or baking paper and continue baking until done.

Happy Baking!