Moist Sourdough Apple Donut Cake
This moist and flavorful apple cake is made with sourdough discard and tastes just like an apple donut! The apples are thinly sliced so they disappear into the soft and fluffy crumb, and the cinnamon sugar topping bakes into a papery thin, crackly crust. Each piece is pure fall delight. So easy to make, no mixer needed.
Yield: 9 pieces
Ingredients
- 80 grams whole milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 205 grams of quartered apple wedges
- 130 grams brown sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 70 grams sourdough discard, room temp preferred so that it is easy to incorporate
- 40 grams sunflower or grapeseed oil
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 140 grams all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- pinch of nutmeg
- For topping: 3 tablespoons granulated sugar + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon + pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Stir together milk and lemon juice, set aside. (This is a like a faux buttermilk.)
- Use mandoline (or very sharp knife) to cut your apple wedges into paper thin slices. Then run your knife through them vertically to cut into sticks, then horizontally so the sticks are kind of like rectangles. This doesn't have to be perfect, you're just trying to make the pieces smaller.
- To a large mixing bowl, add brown sugar, egg, and sourdough discard. Whisk together until homogenous. Add oil, milk mixture, and vanilla. Whisk again to combine.
- To a small bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk.
- Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, and use a spatula to stir until about half combined. Then add apples and fold in to distribute, just until no flour streaks are left. Be sure to not overmix.
- Scrape batter into a greased or parchment lined 8x8 baking pan (do not use glass). Use back of spoon to even out the batter. The mix topping ingredients together and evenly sprinkle over the cake.
- Turn OVEN DOWN to 325 degrees F and bake for 35 to 38 minutes, until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, but not wet. Let cool and serve.
Notes
*Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum.
*An oven thermometer is always helpful to make sure your oven is actually the temperature it is reading. I always use one, as my oven runs hot. This can negatively impact your bake.
*Do not decrease the amount of sugar in the topping; it is not too sweet and gives this cake the gorgeous and delicious crackly top.
