Thin apple slices run through a tender, moist crumb beneath a golden crust in this Italian-style Reinette apple cake. Cinnamon and lemon zest add fragrance to a simple cake for breakfast or an afternoon slice. The apples are folded into the batter rather than arranged as a separate topping.
Servings, tin and timing
Serves 8 · round 22 cm cake tin · easy · low cost. Preparation: 20 minutes. Baking: 55 minutes at 180 °C in a conventional oven, without a fan. Approximate total: 1 hour 15 minutes, excluding preheating and cooling.
Ingredients
- 930 g whole Reinette apples, yielding 700 g peeled and cored apples
- 200 g sugar
- 250 g Italian type 00 flour
- 100 g butter
- 150 g whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 lemon, grated zest only
- 16 g baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch fine salt
- Icing sugar, as needed to finish
For the tin: a little extra butter and sugar, in addition to the batter quantities.
How to make the apple cake
1. Prepare the apples
Peel and quarter the Reinette apples and remove the cores. Weigh out 700 g of prepared apple, then cut the quarters crosswise into thin slices. Melt the butter and let it cool until lukewarm.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar
Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer until pale and airy, then add the salt.
3. Add butter and flavourings
Mix in the lukewarm melted butter and cinnamon. Add the grated lemon zest and beat again.
4. Finish the batter
Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Mix while adding the milk gradually, until the batter is smooth and creamy.
5. Fold in the apples
Fold in all the apple slices with a spatula. Butter the 22 cm tin and coat it with sugar, then spoon in the batter and level the top.
6. Bake and serve
Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 180 °C for about 55 minutes. Check the centre with a skewer before removing the cake. Allow it to cool to lukewarm, release it from the tin and dust with icing sugar.
Baking and batter questions
Why is this apple cake so moist?
The recipe contains 700 g of prepared apples, so a moist texture is expected. Moist crumb is not the same as raw batter: check the centre. The source suggests an extra 10 minutes of baking if needed, covering the top with foil to prevent excessive browning.
Are the apples weighed before or after peeling?
Add 700 g of peeled, cored apples to the batter. The 930 g figure is the approximate whole-fruit weight; the amount of peel and core discarded can vary.
Does the batter need lemon juice?
This recipe uses the grated zest of 1 lemon. The reference method does not add its juice to the batter.
Storage and variations
The source recommends keeping the baked cake covered at room temperature for no more than 2–3 days and says it can be frozen after baking. This is a very moist cake, so actual keeping time also depends on storage conditions.
If you prefer not to use cinnamon, the source suggests the seeds of 1 vanilla pod. Pine nuts or raisins are optional additions, not part of the base recipe; no amounts are specified in the source.
The source lists approximately 402.8 kcal per serving, an Edamam estimate based on 8 servings. This is not an independent calculation by the Magazine and varies with ingredients and portion size; it is not personalised dietary advice.
Source and images
Ingredient quantities and method are based on GialloZafferano’s “Torta di mele”, supplied as the reference and checked. Text rewritten for Tutto Pasticceria Magazine without changing the recipe formula.
GialloZafferano: Torta di mele
Images are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs of a test bake.
