Apple Kuchen

This beautiful apple kuchen was featured as a Rosh Hashanah article and I just loved the technique with the apples. They aren't slices, but are cut just part-way through so that they fan when baking. 

I took this to a brunch gathering. It's very sweet from the honey glaze, even though I only used about half of what the recipe called for. The cake itself is dense, and very gingery which I love but some people might feel lis overkill. I will definitely use apples sliced this way in the future, whether or not I use this exact recipe again. 

Though the recipe called for lemon, I only had orange, so I substituted orange zest and juice. The baby gala apples I used were just right in both size and texture. Ultimately, mine needed 15-20 additional minutes (after 45), even though my oven is hot and was close to 350 for most of the time. 

For the cake:
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), plus butter for greasing pan
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for dusting pan
½ cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling apples
¼ cup raw honey
3 eggs
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 ounces candied ginger, diced

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 small apples, peeled and quartered

For the glaze:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan (springform pan or removable bottom).

Cream together butter and sugar, then add honey and whip for one minute until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, until well incorporated, then whip for two minutes.

Stir in grated ginger, candied ginger, and lemon zest.

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in with wet ingredients to make a stiff batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Cut slits in each of the apple quarters on the rounded, outer part of the wedge, slicing partway through at 1/4-inch intervals. Arrange apple quarters slit-side-up over the batter and sprinkle surface with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Place cake pan on a baking sheet and put on middle rack of oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until an inserted skewer emerges dry. If cake is browning too rapidly, tent with foil until done.

Cool on a rack, then carefully unmold.

Make the glaze by bringing sugar, honey, and lemon juice to a boil and stirring until sugar is dissolved. Paint surface of cake and apples with warm glaze. Cake will keep for several days, tightly wrapped, at room temperature.