Irish Apple Cake

I made this tasty treat for dessert tonight, since it's St. Patrick's day and all.
I have to say, the custard sauce didn't turn out very well for me, and Jeff didn't love it (the sauce) but the cake is good.  I liked it with the sauce but I admit it wasn't the best custard sauce ever...if you have a tried and true recipe for a good custard sauce, by all means, use it.  This is a really rustic cake with big chunks of apples and I loved the clove and nutmeg in the dough.  I wasn't sure how mine would turn out, because once I mixed it all together it didn't seem like there was much dough but it turned out great.

Irish Apple Cake

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 3 C. Flour
• 2 t. Baking Powder
• 1/8 t. Salt
• 1/4 t. Cloves, ground
• 1/4 t. Nutmeg, ground
• 6 oz. Butter, (cold is fine)
• 3/4 C. Sugar
• 4 large Granny Smith apples(I used golden delicious to great effect)
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 C. Milk
• 2 T. Sugar(for sprinkling on top of cake)
• FOR THE CUSTARD:
• 6 large Egg Yolks
• 6 T. Sugar
• 1 1/2 C. Whole Milk
• 1 1/2 t. Vanilla

Instructions

1. FOR THE CAKE:
2. Grease and flour an 8" or 9" round springform pan. Using an 8" pan will give you a taller cake.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl. Make sure the bowl is very large to allow room for the apples to be folded in.
5. Cut the butter into the flour using your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
6. Add the 3/4 C. sugar to the flour mixture and mix in.
7. Peel the apples and slice them into uniform pieces. This cake works best and gets that 'chunky apple look' if the slices are about 1/4" wide and then cut into 3 pieces.
8. Toss the apples into the flour mixture and combine them thoroughly.
9. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Add to the apples and flour and mix in with a large spatula until just combined. Batter will be thick and dough-like.
10. Transfer the dough into the prepared cake pan and flatten the top surface using the back of your spatula.
11. Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the cake.
12. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Test the center for doneness. The top of the cake should be golden brown. Serve slices with custard sauce.
13. FOR THE CUSTARD SAUCE:
14. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale yellow, 2-3 minutes. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and bring just to a boil. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and stir over medium heat until custard thickens, about 4 minutes. Custard should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Mix in the vanilla. Transfer to bowl or serving saucer.
15. Serve warm or cold over apple cake.

I used the instructions from http://thekitchenmccabe.com because they were more clear-cut and to the point, but the recipe is originally from http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2013/03/01/kerry-or-irish-apple-cake/.  I think you should check out the irishamericanmom.com site if you're interested in reading about the origins of the recipe.  I like learning about the food from other countries.  And I also like eating food from other countries.  : )