If you want a recipe for apple yogurt cake, look no further! This is David Rocco's recipe and it's like a dense apple torte with a wonderful crispy sugar topping. Keep reading to find the recipe and my book review of David Rocco's book "Made in Italy" .
Oh, David Rocco.... I watch him on tv, usually in awe. He's a Canadian who lives part-time in Italy. He hangs out with his buddies in Rome, and cooks. He visits fun places like a chestnut farm, and eats and cooks among the trees. What a life! How do I sign up for this gig?
With all honesty, I don't really want to have a tv show. I'd rather have my perfect little bakery. In the meantime, I have David Rocco's latest book "Made in Italy" to review.
So far, I've tested a handful of recipes. What I love about this book: the simplicity. The recipes are quite simple and rustic. You don't need a fancy food processor, blender, mixer, etc. to make David Rocco's recipes. The photos in the book reflect this simplicity, depicting simple, traditional Italian dishes. There are no fancy plating techniques here: the pizzas aren't perfectly round and there are sometimes dribbles of sauce on the serving plate photographed. The dishes really look homemade.
What I don't love (i.e. me being picky): solids (like flour, sugar, etc.) are measured in cups/milliliters (mL). My inner chemist thinks that volumes are for liquids, weights are for solids. Unfortunately, I think Canadian publishing regulations dictate that solids be reported for cookbooks in cups/mL. This makes absolutely no sense to me, but those are the rules. Oh well.
My other issue is with the ingredient lists. For the dessert (dolci) section, I think it is important to specify to use unsalted butter and granulated sugar, for example. However, in this book, these ingredients are listed as butter and sugar, which is fine for the experienced bakers who know what type of butter and sugar to use, but for a novice, I think it's important to specify exactly what ingredients were used. These are really minor details though, and I'm definitely going to continue cooking with this book.
This apple yogurt cake is a dessert recipe adapted from David Rocco's "Made in Italy" (page 341). The recipe is really simple and can even be mixed together by hand (or with a hand mixer, as David Rocco recommends) if you don't have a stand mixer. The cake has a lovely moist texture and is full of apple slices. The original recipe said to bake the cake for 40 minutes, but mine took over an hour to bake. I love the crispy sugar topping that crackles as the cake cools and its crispy texture is a welcome sweet contrast to the soft, slightly tart apples. This is a great snacking cake and absolutely appropriate for the end of fall.
📖 Recipe
David Rocco's Apple Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- 156 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 1.25 mL ground cinnamon
- 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 200 grams unsalted butter melted, plus a little extra for buttering the pan
- 2 large egg(s)
- 125 mL yogurt (2 % fat)
- 2 Cortland apple(s) peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 15 mL finely grated lemon zest
- 75 grams granulated sugar for the topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch cake round.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the ½ cup of sugar and the melted butter until it has lightened.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the yoghurt, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Stir in the sliced apples and the lemon zest, and pour the batter in the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the ⅓ cup sugar evenly over the top of the cake.
- The original recipe suggests a baking time of 40 minutes, but I think it needs to bake for over one hour (until a tester inserted into the center (not through an apple if possible!) comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before serving.
Notes
- This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
Please note that I was sent this book by Harper Collins publishing, but my opinion is my own.
Shabs says
I tried out this recipe for my husband's birthday and everyone loved it ! Thank you so much for sharing it ! The crust is lovely 🙂
abby says
I pinned the recipe from pinterest and am making it tomorrow. I read all the other comments and may just cut the butter down a bit it sounds like I could get away with it. I love the look of the flaky top and it seems simple to make. My friend is making an apple cake and so i will be ready with this to share and compare.
Anonymous says
The flavor is good, but what I ended up with is such a greasy mess! Butter boiled over in the oven, and even after the cake was done I had such a pool of melted butter on top that I had to pour it off into the sink. Mine was such a disaster that I'm shocked that anyone could make this cake as written and have it turn out. If I ever try it again, I'm cutting the butter in half.
Jan says
I am very sorry you had trouble with the recipe. Are you sure that you measured the butter correctly? I have made this a few times, and never had a "pool of melted butter" on top. Also, many people have taken this recipe and blogged about it, and none had your complaint, so I'm not sure where it went wrong. Ashley commented above that she successfully halved the butter without a problem so that will work! I guess the only advice I can give you is that if at first you don't succeed, try again 😉
Anonymous says
The same thing happened to me the first time. I think the difference is whipping the butter and sugar until it thickens and gets fluffy and light. I didn't melt mine all the way, but left it very, very soft. I also decreased the butter, but only by about 3 tablespoons. I used a paddle when I mixed it the first time and the whisk attachments on my handheld mixer the second time. It seemed to really need the air that a whisk attachment creates. Second one in the oven now, but there was a very noticeable difference in the batter. I'm hopeful.
Janice Lawandi says
Hmmm, this recipe seems more finicky than I realized! I am glad you are trying it again, and if I have time I will do the same to check it again. I hope your second batch works out!
shruti says
i made this tday, tastes great ! i reduced butter by 100gms and added 100gms yogurt instead, in addition to 125ml yogurt. its like apple pie/bread pudding in terms of texture 😀 everyone at home loved the cake...thanks for the recipe 🙂 half over already, will finish it tom 😉
jasmine says
This looks like my dream cake. I'm going to bake it this week with Greek yogurt! Can't wait to try it. Thank you for sharing... found you through Pinterest!
Anonymous says
oct. 6 2012
the apple yogurt gateau is really excellent. granny smith as one of the apples imparts tartness. i was a bit confused with melted butter as whipping that into a light mixture with the sugar is really quite difficult. i used some eggs(mixed into the sugar and butter mix) that were really cold and thus the mixture congealed much better and whipped into a light mixture. perhaps using butter at a really soft room temp. is what is meant. my experience with baking is that melted butter when the butter fat and the solids seperate makes for a heavy batter and a heavy cake.
i was also puzzled about there not being an agent for rising as it was called a cake, as it was published in the local newspaper i searched the internet for the recipe to make sure that no baking powder and or soda was called for and the newspaper had made a mistake in not including it. that is why this is really a true European gateau and not such as the north american cake is defined. this recipe is certainly one that will be a regular item in this household. excellent.
Jan says
Thanks for sharing your input on this recipe! I honestly find it very forgiving and it seems to always turn out (even if the eggs are cold, for example). Glad you enjoyed it and it turned out well, but you are right that it is more of a European "torte" perhaps 😉
Ashley says
I've made this cake twice and loved it but it turns out I was inadvertently halving the amount of butter called for (somehow using 7/8 STICK instead of 7/8 CUP). Just wanted to throw that out there for anyone who wants to lighten the cake up a bit! It was still crazy moist and delicious.
Oh, and I did use mostly greek yogurt (2%) thinned out a tiny bit with some milk. I'm trying it for a third time today made with pears instead of apples. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Lori says
Absolutely brilliant recipe - so good and simple ingredients.
Hettle says
Hi! Loved this recipe thank you for sharing, I found this thru pinterest and blogged about it today here.
http://hettlecreative.blogspot.com/
Cheers! Gina
Sophie Tran says
does it matter what type of apples to use?
Jan says
I would avoid apples like McIntosh that turn to mush when cooked. I usually bake with Cortland apples. Delicious(red or golden)apples would work too!