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Swedish Apple Cake with Vanilla Sauce - Diversivore.com
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Swedish Apple Cake

Picture a delectable apple and almond cake, married to a buttery cardamom-vanilla crust, and topped with an addictive, creamy vanilla sauce. Thanks, Sweden!
Course Dessert
Cuisine European, Scandinavian, Swedish
Keyword apple cake, ikea apple cake recipe, swedish apple pie, swedish vanilla sauce
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings 16 servings
Calories 299kcal

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
  • pinch baking soda (~1/8 tsp)
  • pinch salt (~1/8 tsp)
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 1/2 cup butter cold and cut into pieces
  • 1 egg

Filling

  • 1 kg Belle de Boskoop Apples or similar variety (see note for suggestions)
  • 1/2 cup blanched almonds (~90 g) or almond flour (see note)
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 1/2 cup butter warmed but not melted
  • 2 eggs beaten

Vanilla Sauce

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 2 tsp potato starch or corn starch
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar

Instructions

Pastry and Cake Filling

  • PASTRY STEPS: 1-4, and 10 Grease a 10 inch cake tin (ideally a spring-form or one with a lifting bottom) with butter or cooking oil and set aside.
  • Cut the vanilla bean in half the long way and scrape the seeds out from the inside. (Note that you can do the whole bean at once and save half of the paste for the filling and half for the crust, or you can keep half a bean set aside for when you do the filling steps).
  • To make the crust, combine the dry ingredients and paste from half of a vanilla bean in a food processor and mix thoroughly. Add the cold butter and combine until the mixture forms small crumbs. Add one egg and pulse together again, stopping when the dough is evenly mixed.
  • Press about 3/4 of the dough into the bottom of the cake tin in order to make an even crust. Roll the remaining dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Set everything aside to chill in the refrigerator.
  • Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
  • FILLING STEPS: 6-9 If you're using whole blanched almonds (see note below), pulverize them with a food processor or nut/spice grinder. Set aside.
  • Peel and slice the apples. You can be relatively flexible on the size of the apple pieces, but I like large 'chips' of apple, about 2-3 cm (1 inch) long and 1/2 cm (less than 1/4 inch) thick. If you have a hand-cranked apple peeler, it makes quick work of this and cuts your apples into an ideal thickness.
  • Combine the almond flour, flour, sugar, and spices in a large bowl. Scrape the seeds out of the 1/2 vanilla pod and add them to the mixture. Add the butter and eggs and combine with a hand mixer. Once the filling is well combined, fold in the sliced apples.
  • Pour the filling evenly into the cake tin.
  • Roll out the remaining chilled pastry. It should be about 1/4 cm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut the pastry into shapes of your choosing and layer them on top of the cake. They do not need to cover the entire surface of the cake.
  • Bake for about 1 hour, or until the center is set and the top is golden. Serve warm or chilled, topped with vanilla sauce.

Vanilla Sauce

  • Slice the vanilla bean open the long way and use the tip of a small knife or spoon to scrape out all of the seeds.
  • Place the milk, cream, and vanilla seeds/paste in a small saucepan on the stove-top. Heat over a medium-low flame, stirring frequently (I like using a whisk to really mix in the vanilla). When the mixture is quite warm and beginning to very gently simmer, remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes. DO NOT BOIL. (Note - you can add the scraped pod to the sauce as well if you like, though I personally prefer to keep it for making vanilla sugar).
  • Place a portion of the vanilla/cream mixture in a small bowl. Add the egg yolks, sugar, and potato/corn starch to the bowl and whisk very thoroughly. Don't be tempted to add the eggs to the original sauce-pan with all of the cream in it, as they will be harder to mix and may cook too quickly in the residual heat.
  • Combine the egg mixture with the rest of the vanilla/cream mixture in the saucepan and return to the stove-top. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently. DO NOT BOIL. Once the sauce thickens and becomes glossy, remove it from the heat and set aside. Note that it will thicken further as it cools. It can be served warm or chilled.

Notes

Belle de Boskoop apples are a wonderful, large, sweet-tart apple that's fantastic fresh and even better baked. They're an heirloom variety, native to the Netherlands, but grown in various parts of Europe and North America. If you can't find them, any other firm sweet/tart apple will work, as will a mix of sweet and tart apples (Jonagold and Granny Smith, for example).
In order to get a wonderful fresh almond flavour, I like using blanched almonds and crushing/mixing them in a food processor along with the other filling ingredients. However, if you don't have a food processor or spice/nut grinder, you'll probably want to substitute an equal weight of good quality, fresh almond flour (or almond meal). 90 grams is equal to about one slightly underfilled US cup measure.
Note that the finished vanilla sauce can be combined with whipped cream, but I prefer to use it as-is.

Nutrition

Calories: 299kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 47mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 600IU | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.9mg