On my 11th birthday I received my first adult baking book and this marked the beginning of making German cakes and torten for my family. One of the first recipes that I made from this book was "Gedeckter Apfelkuchen".  It is a "covered" cake with a delicious apple, almond and raisin filling which is very similar to an apple strudel filling. For me this apple cake is a very typical German cake; it's a cake that you find in every German pastry shop. I remember when I was little my family and I visited museums on Sundays and occasionally we went to the pastry shop after our museum visits in order to get some slices of cake for afternoon tea. I always chose a slice of Prinzregententorte but my dad chose almost every time a slice of "Gedeckter Apfelkuchen" and I always managed to sneak a little bit of my dad's apple slice.
This cake is one of my all time favorite apple cakes - besides my beloved Saturday Oatmeal Apple Cake of my mom. Ever since I made the cake for the very first time I make the "Gedeckter Apfelkuchen" every single year. The cake is such a beautiful rich and delicious apple cake which is so comforting for the colder months of the year. 
Makes 1 cake (diameter 16 cm)

INGREDIENTS

Dough

  • 50 g hazelnut flour
  • 200 g all-purpose flour
  • 125 g unsalted cold butter (cut in cubes)
  • 75 g granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk

Filling

  • 50 g raisins
  • 1 tablespoon of rum
  • 375 g tart apples
  • 45 g almond flakes (toasted)
  • 25 g granulated sugar

Icing

  • 50 g confectioners' sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons of apple juice or water
  • 2 tablespoons almond flakes (toasted)

DIRECTIONS

  • Knead hazelnut flour, all-purpose flour, butter, granulated sugar, salt and  egg yolk to a dough. Wrap the dough into clingwrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 
  • For the apple filling wash the raisins in hot water. In a small bowl let the raisins soak in rum. 
  • Peel and core the apples and cut them into small cubes (about 4 cm). 
  •  Mix apple cubes, rum soaked raisins, almond slivers and sugar in a bowl.
  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C. 
  • Line the bottom of your springform pan with parchment paper and grease and flour your pan. 
  • On a floured surface roll out 2/3 of the dough into a circle (the circle should be bigger than the springform). Gently lay the dough into the cake pan.
  • Place the apple filling into the pan. 
  • Roll out the remaining dough to a circle and lay the circle on the top of the apple filling, Press the edges together to seal the dough. 
  • Bake the apple cake for 35 to 40 minutes. If the top of the cake gets too brown cover the cake  with aluminium foil. I usually cover the cake with aluminium foil after 30 minutes.
  • Mix confectioners' sugar and apple juice or water. While the cake is still warm brush the top of the cake with icing and sprinkle with toasted almond flakes.
The recipe is adapted from the book "Kuchen und Torten" by Annette Wolter, GU.