This traditional German apple cake recipe is simple, no fancy ingredients are required. I mixed some chopped apples into the batter, but you don’t have to do that.

Ingredients

• 4 Small apples, peeled
• 1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup Caster sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 2 tsp Fresh lemon juice
• 3 Large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups Plain flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Milk
• Icing sugar or apricot jam

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease the bottom of a 10-inch tin or use baking paper.
• Peel, quarter and thinly slice the apples for the top. I chopped some of them to be mixed into the batter.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter using electric mixer until creamy, then add sugar and beat until light.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat on high speed after each addition.
• Add vanilla sugar extract and lemon juice. Beat quickly until combined.
• Combine plain flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients into the bowl of the butter and egg mixture. Beat at low speed then add half of the milk, followed by the remaining flour, then the remaining milk and the chopped apples. Beat at low speed until just combined.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared tin. Arrange the sliced apples on top. Brush the top with apricot jam. (optional)
• Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
• Transfer to a cooling rack and leave it to cool before removing the cake from the tin.
• If you choose not to brush the top with apricot jam, then sprinkle some icing sugar over the cake. The cake is normally served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Some serve it with custard sauce too.