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In this weeks episode, we’ll be cooking something that sounds similar to Apfelkuchen, Zwetschgenknodel, Goulash or Krumpli. If this sounds good to you make sure to subscribe for the coming weeks recipes.

German style Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Description
It is always fun to discover a recipe from a European relative when I dig through my archives. I wish I knew who gave this to me! It is typed on a 4×6 index card. When I say typed, I mean it, typed on an actual typewriter, remember those?
I had to do some adapting to convert the recipe, and then used a larger springform pan than I should have, so there wasn’t enough dough to place over the apples. I decided it would look pretty and taste just as good with the apples serving as the decoration. I was right! This is yummy, and not too sweet, just right. German desserts typically use less sugar than American desserts do. You can certainly sprinkle extra sugar if you prefer a sweeter dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large or two smaller tart apples, such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith
- Slivered almonds (optional)
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the melted butter and knead into a soft pliable dough.
- Place the dough, covered with saran wrap, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Grease a 9″ springform pan with butter. Place the dough in the pan. Spread the bottom and about 1/2″ of the sides evenly with dough.
- Sprinkle the dough with cinnamon, sugar and almonds if using them.
- Cut the apples into quarters, then slice each quarter into quarters.
- Spread the apples over the dough in an attractive pattern.
- Sprinkle the apples with additional cinnamon and sugar.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes before removing springform. Enjoy warm or cold.
Notes
- You can use a smaller springform pan, using 2/3 of the dough as the base, and the remaining 1/3 to roll out and place over the top of the apples. You can then mix about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with some lemon juice and spread this over the top of the cake after its cooled.
- Don’t leave the dough in the refrigerator for more than an hour. The second time I made this, I made the dough the night before. It was a rock the next day. I had to defrost it for 30 second in the microwave in order to make it pliable again.
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: European dessert
Keywords: apple cake, German apple cake, apfelkuchen, apfel kuchen, dessert, cake, apple, apple dessert

SchnitzelGirl
Head Cook
I’ve always loved cooking, and spent many years working on the food & beverage side of the hospitality industry, which served to increase my interest in food, wine and entertaining.
Oh wow does this look yummy! I think when making pastry dough you want the butter in it cold (for extra flakiness) but the dough still has to be pliable. It’s definitely a fine balance. And when are almonds an OPTION? I would change that to MANDATORY – LOL! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes and I pinned this one for later!
Ruth
http://www.VogueFauxReal.com