The Hygge Series: French Apple Cake

Whenever I hear ‘enjoy your life’, for some reason I think of the French. No one does it better than them – they eat their white gluten-filled bread, lots of wine and dark chocolate, carry off super cool outfits and have a je ne sais quois about them. And in my books, anyone who can eat baguettes with wine and still be a size 2 is living a very good life indeed.

So, when I received a truckload of apples (no idea who sent them, but I saw them in the kitchen), I decided a French apple cake was in order. The first time I had a slice of the French cake was at a friend’s house in Paris. She had done up a gorgeous meal in her tiny flat – that housed everything in a very neat way – and the meal ended with this lovely delightful slice of cake, with a bit of cream.

This French apple cake is a cross between custard, pie and cake – a complete play on texture and the details in creating this may sound like a fuss, but in typical French way, is hardly a sweat. The top of the cake is crackly, while the inside is soft and custard like with layers of apples – you achieve this by separating the batter mid-way and adding extra yolks into the inside batter, and extra flour into the top layer. This cake needs to be completely cooled before you serve, and a simple dusting of sugar is good enough, but a bit of ice cream or cream is even better!

Photo Credits: The Kitchen Trail