Apple and Hazelnut Cake

4.75 from 8 votes

A rustic apple and hazelnut cake, consisting of a thick layer of apples between two sheets of shortcrust pastry, some roasted hazelnuts in between... this recipe is utterly delicious.

Prep Time1

Cook Time45

Total Time1 45

Course: Cakes

Cuisine: Romanian

Servings:

Calories: 349kcal

Author: Adina

Ingredients

Pastry:
300 g all-purpose flour 10.5 oz/ 2 ½ cups
100 g granulated sugar 3.5 oz/ ½ cup
200 g unsalted butter 7 oz/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon, cold and cubed
2 egg yolks
Filling:
1 ½ kg kapples 3.3 lbs
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (Note 2)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar or more to taste
½ teaspoon cinnamon
100 g ground hazelnuts 3.5 oz/ ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon
Serving:
icing sugar
vanilla ice cream optional
whipped cream optional

Instructions

Pastry:

Make the pastry: Place the flour and sugar in the food processor. Pulse shortly to mix. Add the cold and cubed butter and the egg yolks and process shortly until you obtain some large dough crumbs. Turn the mixture on the working surface, knead lightly to form a ball, wrap in plastic foil.
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until you prepare the rest.

Filling:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a casserole dish of about 30x20 cm/ 12x8-inches.
Roast the hazelnuts in a large pan without any fat until they become fragrant and a shade darker. Keep an eye on them all the time and shake the pan often. Transfer to a plate and let cool until you prepare the rest.
Peel and roughly grate the apples. Mix them with vanilla sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon.

Assemble:

Divide the pastry into two equal parts. Press one portion into a rough rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll it as well as you can with a lightly floured rolling pin. Run a knife under the pastry sheet to help it come off the table and place it carefully in the casserole dish. If it breaks, push it back in form with your fingers, everything will stick together again perfectly. Prick with a fork all over the place.
Sprinkle the pastry with ½ of the roasted hazelnuts.
Fill: Take one handful of the apples and squeeze it to remove the excess liquid. Continue this way with the remaining grated apples. Spread the apples on top of the pastry and level. Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts on top.
Cover: Roll the rest of the pastry like you did the first time. Place the pastry on top of the apples and press with your fingers to repair the broken parts; it works even if there are apples underneath. Prick the pastry with the fork again.

Bake:

Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the pastry is golden. If you use a glass casserole dish, lift it and look underneath to check the bottom; the pie is done if the bottom pastry layer doesn't look wet anymore, the pie is done.
Sprinkle the hot pie with icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature as suggested above.

Notes

Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it ensures the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
Vanilla sugar is very common in Europe. If you don't have it replace it with 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. For making your vanilla sugar, see the blog post.

Nutrition