Bolzano Apple Cake
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The roots of Bolzano apple cake lie in the Alto Adige region of Italy, where Scott Carsberg of Seattle’s Lampreia trained as a young chef. There, Carsberg worked at the Michelin one-star restaurant, Villa Mozart, whose menu reflected the simple foods of the region, and whose chefs taught him how to make Bolzano apple cake, a classic northern Italian peasant dessert.
Over twenty years later, Carsberg put the cake on his menu, serving it with caramel ice cream. Yum (Read more about Carsberg, Lampreia, and the Bolzano apple cake in this New York Times article: Seattle Grown, Italian Flavored.)
I adore this cake, and I want you to, too. Some of you, however, have had trouble with this recipe, mostly with the baking time, which some of you have noted has taken as long as 90 minutes. I know every oven is different and every pan conducts heat differently, so baking times will surely vary, but I worry that cooking this “cake” for over an hour will severely alter its delicate texture and flavor.
Why? Because Bolzano apple cake is more like a cross between a clafouti and a pancake. After the cake is removed from the oven, it falls, and the slices of vanilla-seed speckled apples meld together sinking into the tiniest of tiny layers of custardy cake. It is delectable.
If you fear your oven’s temperature and dial aren’t quite calibrated accurately — mine certainly are not — I recommend getting one of these little oven thermometers. Mine hangs from my top oven rack, and I refer to it every time I use my oven.
When testing the doneness of this cake, inserting a knife will offer little guidance. The paring knife I used emerged covered with little bits of batter. I still removed the cake from the oven after 55 minutes of cooking and let it cool in its pan on a rack for more than 30 minutes before tucking in.
I most enjoy eating this cake when it has cooled to room temperature. I’d wager, in fact, that it peaks at breakfast the next day. Good things come to those who wait? Or something like that.
Bolzano Apple Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 cake
Description
Source: Adapted from The New York Times 2004
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter, plus more for greasing pan
- parchment paper
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
- 4 Fuji apples
- ½ cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup milk at room temperature
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease a nine-inch-circle pan with butter. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and place inside pan. Grease sides of pan and parchment round with butter.
- Melt butter in small saucepan. Set aside. Beat together eggs and half of sugar in a bowl. Continue to beat while slowly adding remaining sugar until thick — it should form a ribbon when dropped from spoon.
- Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape seeds into the egg-sugar mixture and add pod to melted butter.
- Peel apples and cut straight down around the core into four big chunks. Discard the core then slice the apple pieces thinly.
- Remove vanilla pod from butter and discard. Stir butter into sugar-egg mixture. Combine flour, salt and baking powder, then stir into batter alternating with the milk. Stir in apples, coating every piece with batter. Pour batter into pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then rotate the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes more, but not for much longer, or until cake pulls away slightly from the pan and is brown on top. Cool for at least 30 minutes, then cut into wedges sprinkling each with powdered sugar if desired.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: Italian, American
Keywords: apple, cake, vanilla bean, sugar
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
94 Comments on “Bolzano Apple Cake”
Ciao….Bolzano and not Bolzano it’s the nytIMES i KNOW
I LOVEEE apple cake.
I LOVEEE apple cake. It’s so good!
Your cake looks amazing! Great way to use apples. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Convinced! I’m making this for dessert today! 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you so much for this post! I love this “cake” so much.
ANOTHER apple cake for me try!!!!
I have made sooo many apple cakes, I am posting the brown butter bliss apple cake tomorrow…..this one looks like a winner. I guess I will have to bake another apple cake this weekend!
i seem to have reached a place in life where i can’t get enough apple cake. i like it cream-cheese-frosted, i like it caramel-glazed, i like it naked, and i have no doubt i’d like this version. it sounds unique and scrumptious!
This cake sounds amazing, and it’s come along at just the right time for me, I have sacks of apples from my boyfriend’s parent’s apple tree!
You’ve answered my question of the day: what to do with the apples I purchased on the last day of the local farmers market. Apple cake it is! Can’t wait to try this lovely recipe.
I made this cake last November after seeing it on your blog and it is HEAVENLY! We’re having company next week and I think I’ll make this for them.
Bolzano is a beautiful little town in northeastern
Italy… please correct the spelling of this lovely little “cake”! I made it last weekend and I thought perhaps a tarter apple such as a Granny Smith would have been nice. Also, it’s really nice with a side of whipped cream, ice cream, sour cream, etc.
I spent a year living in Milan last year and the one thing I cannot get out of my mind is the apple cake I consistently indulged in. Let’s just say the northern Italians got it right when they started making apple cake. Unfortunately, I never found a recipe to bring back with me, I think you just filled that void. I cannot wait to make this.
It sounds like a great desert that I will try this apple season. I was wondering about the apples; do you think it is important to use Fuji apples? Have you tried it with other varieties?
MMMMMMMMMM,…what a tasty looking apple cake!! Just so lovely!!
It would be very helpful to me if you would take the temperature of the cake when it is finished baking with an instant read thermometer,especially since there seems to be some uncertainty about when it is done.
thanks for all the great recipes.
I’ve made a similar sort of cake – it’s so simple and so good!
i had just planned to make it again for tgiving. got rave reviews last time
¡Delicioso! What a great cake even if I had to use the yellow delicious in house and substitute Mexican vanilla which is dreamy. When I tasted the batter, it reminded me of the Mexican vanilla ice cream we make in the summer.
I’m still savouring the polenta with sauteed chard & fried egg. Your pictures are incredible!
I have to try this is sounds incredible and it doesn’t hurt that apples are my favorite fruit to bake with.
Hi, just discovered your blog and have spent the last several hours just going through it – love it!! This looks totally yum but was wondering if red delicious apples would work – I have a 10 lb bag of reds (thats what happens when u send ur husband to the grocery with “apples” on the list!) and need to use them up.
Just want to ask those of you who’ve made it if it’s good with a tart or sweet apple? I can get nice russets which have good flavour and hold their shape well, I usually bake with Granny smiths as I like tart apples in my desserts, and I have no idea what a Fuji apple is like. Thanks!
Thanks for the tips this looks well worth the effort and delicious!
I know one thing for sure, it is really good with warm custard!
All I can say is mmmmmm! This definitely can’t be overcooked as you’ve shared. I look forward to trying this soon.
Apples are so great to cook with this time of year. They wrap all that is going on with the weather into a warm dish.
Success! I made this cake for the third time tonight and it was by far the best. I took the suggestion of one of your reader comments and used granny smith apples. It gave the cake a little kick. I also bought a new baking dish that is deeper than the one I usually use and it is absolutely perfect! Thanks so much for this recipe. I really have grown to love this dessert 🙂
I was able to make this in individual tart pans with deep sides. So great to serve like this. Company was impressed! It also helps with portion control. I can devour this entire cake over 2 meals! Love apples, butter and sugar.
Your photos have me drooling! I’m flagging this for a weekend baking experiment.
Glad you made that note about baking. We’ve both baked something and found ourselves confused thinking it ‘should’ look a certain way. The texture of this one sounds nice.