Babette Friedman’s Apple Cake

I followed the recipe precisely, it looked and smelled delicious. There was no butter leakage while baking, but when I cut into the cake, it was dense, virtually no crumb, and inedible. I was careful to fold the flour slowly and gently into the batter. What went wrong?

A British tea cake recipe requires me to weigh all ingredients and may explain the butter problem: Not all butter sticks weigh exactly 8 oz. Some butters contain added water. Although I would think that water would make the butter more spreadable, the water may also keep the butter sticks firm. Irish butter is creamier than American butter and softens more quickly. Butters with more water create real problems in pie crusts. Cookies may also spread in the oven rather than rise.

Took 55 minutes to bake and came out looking and smelling wonderful. Tastes even better! Make sure you take your time folding in the flour and getting the butter and sugar fully blended.

I'm honestly confused why people are baking this for so long. Are you not using the 9 inch spring form pan? I also don't know why folks are adding extra liquid. It's a butter based cake, it doesn't need more liquid. Just follow the directions!

I cut 3 very large honeycrisp apple into 16 pieces each and then very quickly assembled this cake. It turned out beautifully, the apples on top intact and the cake moist. I folded into the batter about 8 slices and used the rest to make "closely fitting" concentric circles on top. I brushed the apples with the Calvados liquid (I had put at least 2 TBSP in with the apples) and sprinkled sugar on top. I baked at 375 for 65 minutes (thank you other bakers for that tip). Perfect!

Is this recipe correct as written with 8oz butter? I just made a cake from King Arthur Flour website (Old-fashioned Apple Cake) which is almost identical but it only uses 8 tbsp butter. I think too much butter in this recipe is the reason that butter is leaking.

This is my favorite apple cake but it's important to understand this is a dense and substantial cake, very Eastern European. (For something lighter try the recipe for White House Apple Cake which also delicious.) 3 apples are plenty, sliced into 16ths for the top and cut even smaller for the pieces mixed into the batter. With batter this stiff I can't imagine why any one is having problems with leakage. It can take longer to bake, the edges will blacken like the picture. Still amazing.

This cake takes me WAAAAYYYY longer than 50 minutes at 350. It's usually closer to 90 minutes. Anyone else experience this? No matter what, though, it's worth it. This cake is simply awesome.

This turned out to be both surprisingly easy and surprisingly delicious (thankfully).

The batter was very stiff and needed to be fairly forcefully spread into the pan, especially considering the chuncks of raw apple folded into it. If I make it again, I'll be sure to cut the apples smaller and slice the apples on top thinner too. I left them kind of thick and they ended up with an unpleasant rubbery texture.

Served it with a Butterscotch Sauce I found on this site, too.

I've made this excellent cake twice. Once it took about 10 minutes more than suggested here, second try about 45 minutes. Same oven, same temp, same pan. My guess is that the moisture of the apples varies a lot: by variety, fresh or stored, etc. I wonder if that isn't what other cooks have encountered too. Just be prepared to improvise.

I did bake it in a convection oven at 350 and it took 50 minutes, was a deep golden brown and apples were tender. I used 1 scant cup white sugar and 1/3 cup dark brown sugar and it wasn't overly sweet but next time less sugar. Pecans a good addition for texture. Maybe less butter to avoid leakage?

it sounds like your baking powder is no longer functioning. You can test it with very hot water to see whether it bubbles up (it should)

I did not have Calvados, used brandy, worked great...I too noticed a bit of butter seeping, but with these butter cakes I always put a parchment lined cookie sheet underneath, which catches anything. Delicious!

Although the butter leaked, my guests really liked it. I added some chopped, toasted pecans with apples (gala was soft, honey crisp was tart, Fuji was tart too. Baked no one could tell the difference, and 3 was enough) A friend gifted me some Hudson Valley Applejack and I put in a great big slug of it as well as a tablespoon of good vanilla. Guest who cook thought I made good decisions about the additions. I will make this again, put a cookie sheet under pan and let you all know how it goes.

I tried this recipe and the batter was so thick and dry I added one extra egg and it was delicious. I sliced the apples a little thinner and diced the apple I added to the batter. As other cooks have noted, the baking time was much longer. I used a 9-inch springform pan and it took exactly 90 minutes to cook. It's very tasty and comforting.

I have made multiple times and really like. It does take longer that it says. I put an apricot jam glaze on top which mamkes it look more attractive. I did not have Calvados and used Amaretto. I have not problem with butter leaking.