Apple Cake

When I was a little girl, I loved apples.  I remember eating at least one each day.  And I loved the tart green apple best of all.

But my love for apples were only for the fresh chilled fruit.  I distinctly disliked apples in any other form except fresh, chilled and without the skin!  So while my mom's apple pie was possibly the best, I ate little of it (although to be fair, it was the only apple pie I would eat).    I did not like apple cake at all, except (recently) this apple upside-down cake.  

As I grew older, I grew less fond of apples.  But this did not mean that I did not try to use them for baking!  Especially since I (usually) get a lot of apples in December, so I baked a lot of apple desserts... mommy's apple pie (at least trying it), apple tarts, apple muffins, apple cakes... all of which everyone else would eat.

Then last week, as I was browsing Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, I discovered her recipe for Marie-Helene's Apple Cake.

And, as usual I made little changes... like using a mandolin to slice the apples instead of slicing them into chunks (it was really faster to use the mandolin!)... adding apple pie spice...  reducing the sugar (just a bit) and using light brown sugar (and then sprinkling the top with more light brown sugar and more apple pie spice)... and finally, using 2 6-inch Springform pans instead of a single 9-inch.

I used a mix of Fuji apples and Gala apples, although I think I might have overdone the apples.  Dorie Greenspan's recipe called for 4 apples (varying kinds).  What I had was 1 medium Fuji apple and about 6 small Gala apples.  I thought 2 small apples would be equivalent to a medium one...

I love, love, love this cake!!!  It's more apple than cake, I would say, and I really like the the apple slices still have a crunch to it!

Hubby had his cake with vanilla ice cream and he was so happy with the cake that he got a second and a third helping!