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Recipe of the Week: Torta di Mele della Nonna (Apple Cake)

By CHEF LORETTA PAGANINI - | Jan 20, 2021

PHOTO PROVIDED Chef Loretta Paganini

This cake is best when made with freshly picked firm juicy apples. Nonna Maria made this cake with apples from her orchard, and I loved to peek in the oven door and watch the dough rise and make the apples disappear. This is my husband’s favorite dessert. It reminds him of an apple cake that his grandmother used to make. This is the perfect dessert for anytime you need a little pick me up. Serves eight. (Chef tip: There are over 7,000 varieties of apples grown all over the world; to get better results, use a variety to make this cake.)

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

2 teaspoon vanilla sugar or extract

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5-6 apples peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup golden raisins soaked in Amaretto liquor

1/4 cup slivered toasted almonds

In an electric mixer cream together the butter and the sugar. Add eggs and beat until pale yellow and ribbons form.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour with salt and baking powder.

Add the flour and the milk to batter. Add vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.

With a spatula, fold in the prepared apples, raisins — reserve the liquor that they were soaking in — and almonds.

Grease with butter and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove and let it cool. Brush with reserved liquor. Cool and serve with your favorite ice cream.