Santori Apple Cake
Serves 8-10
Adapted from Pasta & Company the Cookbook

Local apples are crisp, juicy and succulent right now, and this cake is one fabulous medium for our wonderful state fruit. Unlike the cakes of many other recipes, the Santori is moist, textured and tastes like apple, not spices.

I first tasted it fifteen years ago at Pasta & Co. just out of the oven and still warm; it was a new cake in line to be a signature pastry item. It didn’t take long to become a customer favorite and the recipe was included in the Pasta & Co. cookbooks.

The Santori is an unpretentious, no nonsense dessert for fall and winter. It is perfect for a tailgate picnic or with a glass of port in front of a roaring winter fire. The original Pasta & Co. recipe calls for a glaze. I suggest that sweetened glaze or frosting detracts from the basic apple flavor, but I have served it with vanilla ice cream, crème fraiche and warmed homemade hard apple cider syrup and so far no one has sent it back.

Hints

1. Use tart, ripe apples with a lot of flavor: Fuji, Gala, Gravenstein, Macintosh etc.
2. For a different flavor, substitute barely ripe (full flavored but not soft) pears for apples, sliced almonds for walnuts and powdered ginger for cinnamon.

Ingredients

6 cups apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 ½ cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbs. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
¾ cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract (1/2 tsp. almond extract for Pear version)

Procedure

1. Lightly butter 9”x3” loaf pan.* Preheat oven to 325º (metal pan) or 300º (glass pan)
2. Combine sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, oil, eggs and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Mix well and stir in apples and walnuts until they are coated with batter. Stir in flour. Batter will be firm. Spoon into prepared pan. Fill the pan to within ½” of the top rim or it will over flow.
3. Bake for about 90 minutes, checking after an hour. It’s done when a toothpick comes out dry. The cake may look darker than when you put it in; don’t worry. Cool for 30 minutes in pan, then spread glaze and scatter walnuts over the top if you wish.

*If you line the buttered pan with parchment (and butter that as well) leaving a 3” overhang on the long sides of the pan, you will be able to lift the cake easily from the pan when it has cooled for 10 minutes, cool it another 30 minutes on a cake rack with the paper still on it, then transfer it to a cutting board. It will be easier to slice and serve.

Glaze

4 tbs. unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbs. milk
Mix ingredients well in a small bowl

Hard Apple Cider Syrup

1½ cups apple cider
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tbs. brandy

Put cider and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a solid simmer, turn to low and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half and is slightly thickened. Add brandy and simmer for 5 more minutes. It will be thinner than most syrup, but you can add 1½ tbs. cornstarch mixed in water to the simmering syrup, cook it for 1 minute, and the syrup will thicken.