Renowned Fifth Group executive pastry chef Eric Wolitzky. As the leader of celebrated Atlanta pastry programs including Alma Cocina, Ecco, La Tavola Trattoria, Lure and South City Kitchen, Wolitzky has the unique position of developing a variety of dishes for a diverse collection of pastry programs. One of those is the recipe below for Honey Tea Apple Cake.
8-10 servings
Ingredients
- Brewed Earl Grey tea - ½ cup
- All purpose flour - 1 1/3 cup
- Granulated sugar - ½ cup
- Vegetable oil or another neutral oil - ½ cup
- Whole eggs - 2
- Honey - ½ cup
- Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
- Baking soda - ½ tsp
- Salt - ¼ tsp
- Cinnamon - 1 tsp
- Nutmeg - ¼ tsp
- Medium sized apple (like Granny Smith) - 3
- Lemon juice - 1 T
- Light or dark brown sugar - 2 T
- Apricot jam - as needed
Directions
A tart apple like granny smith or honey crisp works best in this recipe.
Prep a tube or angel food pan with a removable bottom with vegetable spray. You can also cut a circle of parchment paper to fit over the bottom of the tube for extra insurance. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
First, boil half a cup of hot water and steep two bags of Earl Grey tea. Steep for 10 minutes, squeeze out as much tea as you can from the bags and then remove the tea bags. You want this mixture to be strong. Set aside and keep warm.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla extra, and honey. Whisk in warm tea. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and fold to combine. Let the batter sit at room temperature to thicken while you prepare the apples.
Peel and core apples. Cut approximately half of the apples into ½ inch slices and place in a small bowl. Toss with the two tablespoons of lemon juice and brown sugar. Set aside.
Chop the remaining apples into ½ inch cubes. Now fold the chopped apples into the reserved batter. Evenly distribute the batter into the prepped tube pan. Now layer the sliced apples decoratively on top of the batter. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for about 20 minutes.
Run a knife around the sides of the cake and loosen the tube from the pan to lift out. Now gently loosen the bottom of the cake with a knife or offset spatula. Fip cake out onto a plate. Now place another plate on top and flip again so the sliced apples are on top. Heat apricot jam in a small saucepan with a little bit of water and whisk to smooth. Dip a pastry brush into the jam and then brush jam all over the top and sides of the cake. Let the jam set and cool. Then cut the cake into 8 to 10 pieces. Cake will keep for several days if well wrapped at room temperature.
