Baking with apples in a mildly, sweet way

When I am baking, I look for ways to achieve maximum pleasure while minimizing the amount of work, ingredients and inconvenience necessary. The results don’t always bear talking about, but this recipe — oh, this one does. It’s a moist cake with a crumb that’s almost creamy, swirled with cinnamon, and juicy with small bites of apple. It will take you 10 minutes to make, and this recipe never gets old.

I whipped this up for the first time last winter while staying with a group of scientists doing research in snowy Colorado. The first night there, I needed a quick, simple dessert. I had the makings of a yogurt cake, but I had been craving spring’s sweet fruits and berries. There were none to be had, so, I turned to apples.

I love the mild sweetness and brightness of apples when they are cut small for baking in a cake. They are juicy little pops of fruit. In this recipe, I spread a crumbly mix of cinnamon and brown sugar through the middle and over the top of this cake. This creates a cinnamon streak running right through the cake, and a dimpled, puckered top filled with brown-sugar glaze.

The beautiful thing about this cake, besides its moist lusciousness, is that it mixes up in one bowl, and you don’t even need beaters. It’s only mildly sweet, and much of the sweetness comes from the apples.

In fact, I came downstairs the morning after I was baking this, and found only a corner or two remaining. The scientists evidently had decided that the cake was good for breakfast as it had been for dessert.

Apple Yogurt Cake With a Cinnamon-Sugar Streak

• Vegetable cooking spray or olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups whole-milk yogurt, well stirred
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 small tart apples, such as Granny Smith, about 1 1/2 pounds
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Peel and core the apples, and chop into chunks about 1/2-inch across. You should end up with 3 1/2 to 4 cups of apples. Stir the chopped apples into the liquid ingredients.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon into the liquids and stir just until no lumps remain. In a small, separate bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon with the brown sugar and butter.

Pour half of the batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle the batter with half of the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, dropping it on the batter in small lumps. Spread the rest of the batter over top, and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-brown sugar.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, covering with foil at the end if the top is browning. When a tester comes out clean, transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

This keeps well for several days, and it gets moister as it sits, thanks to the apples.

Makes 8 or more servings.

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baking with Bill & Sheila