Teachers' Treats Continued: Russian Apple Cake

This semester, my boyfriend took professor Maria Bourlatskaya's class "Business and Democracy in the New Russia." Toward the end of November she cordially invited the class to a dinner at her place. My sweetheart came back late, stuffed with Russian delicacies, and brought me a slice of tender, moist apple cake that his teacher had made herself. He originally thought it was store-bought.


I cannot help but agree with the old belief that homemade often is immensely better than anything you can get at the store: you are in total control of the process and the ingredients, and you get delicious food for a fraction of the price. It does not matter how great your kitchen skills are - you will be able to make this apple cake even if you have never baked in your life before. My boyfriend is the living proof: after he asked his teacher for the recipe, he did almost all the prep work himself. Needless to say that many, many more people joined in for the eating part.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder or baking soda
50g (about 2 oz) unsalted butter, melted
1-1,5 cups flour
5-6 hard sour apples (Granny Smith work well)
Walnuts and dried cranberries to taste (optional)
Cinnamon to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the sour cream, salt, soda, melted butter and flour. Add just one cup of flour first to see what the batter's consistency is. If it is too runny, add more flour but not more than half a cup. The batter should be neither liquid nor too thick, so it can seep through the gaps between the apple pieces to the bottom of the baking tin.

Cut the apples in medium-sized chunks. The taste of the cake will depend on the apples. Hard, sour ones are better (in this way, you get a pleasant balance of sweet and sour). You can also use two different kinds of apples.

Grease the bottom of a baking tin and put in all the apples and (optional) walnuts and dried cranberries. Pour the batter on top, so it covers all the apple pieces. Sprinkle cinnamon on top and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

The cake is equally good warm or cold. Enjoy it for dessert or as an afternoon snack. Also, it goes especially well with coffee.


Аs Russians would say, Приятного аппетита!