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My mom wasn't a particularly good cook. But she was very good at certain dishes that she made week in and week out. In between meatballs, patties, and cabbage dolmas, she made a few desserts. One of my favorites was her apple cake. This is one of the easiest apple recipes I know -- it doesn't even call for a lot of apples -- and it's loaded with cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, three spices that are commonly used in Swedish cooking. We always had it with warm vanilla sauce or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Apple Cake with Vanilla Sauce
4 apples, peeled and cut into thin slices
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbs. brown sugar
1⁄2 cup sugar, plus 1 tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup melted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Peel the apples and slice thinly. Toss in a bowl with cinnamon, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set aside.
Brush a 9-inch pie pan with butter. Mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and mix until well combined. Add the flour and baking powder and pour into the prepared pan. Arrange the sliced apples on top and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Vanilla Sauce
1 vanilla bean
2 cups milk
6 yolks
1⁄2 cup sugar
Place milk in a heavy-bottomed pan on low heat. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife and scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk. Stir occasionally until milk is just hot with steam and small bubbles appear around the edges; do not boil.
Whisk together the yolks and sugar. Add a small amount of the hot milk into the egg mixture, mixing quickly until completely blended, then blend the entire mixture back into the hot milk.
Stir continuously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture starts to thicken, taking care not to let it boil. Strain and let cool down.
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