Mousse-like apple cake

 Overloaded with apples? No idea about the others, but in my house we tend to exaggerate a bit when it comes to apples. It is mainly because they are so versatile: they can be puréed and served with roast meat, diced and poached in wine and spices, or even eaten fresh for a crunchy break. In the Netherlands apples are sold in big batches and they are small in size, mainly because their purpose is to become an afternoon snack for kids at school. Normally they are sweet and have a pleasant texture, but it occasionally happen to be so unlucky to have a whole batch of tasteless, old, no refreshing apples. What to do? Why a cake, obviously!
And this is seriously one of the best, unusual, unexpected, elegant apple cakes you'll ever have. Promise!

 And so what's so special about it? First of all, it's a concentrate of fruit and vitamins, as you'll need 1.5 kilos of apples to prepare it. And I'm talking about prepared apples, so free from their skin and seeds!
The procedure is also a totally different one. Forget about fluffy yolks beaten with sugar; first, deseed, peel and roughy cut your apples, put them in a saucepan, add a good 60 grams of butter, 100 grams of sugar, and cook the apples until most of the water evaporates and they become a custard-like, creamy, dense compote. Resist to the tempting smell of butter and sugar; put the mixture aside until it cools down, add then 2 eggs (no need to beat them up!) and seven heaping spoon of all purpose flour. Mix well. Baking powder was also mentioned in the list of ingredients but I found it basically useless or so, however, it can be an idea to try with self-rising flour and see how it goes. A fee drops of an intensely scented vanilla natural extract complete the cake. Ready to go in the oven for 45-50 minutes at 180°. The cake will rise but collapse right out of the oven. No big deal though, as the creamy texture was perfect the way it was, it would have not been the same if it had been airy or fluffy.

 I also sprinkled a bit of granulated sugar on top to caramelize the surface of the cake and it turned out to be a success: the crunchy top was a real delight, beautifully contrasting the soft custardy texture inside.
All considered, I would not serve this cake for breakfast. It is a great pudding that finishes up a rich meal, perhaps a solution when you feel that you need a compromise between an easy cake and a creamy mousse.

This cake is a unique inspiration and I would be curious to try it with pears, or maybe enrich it it with a handful of raisins and pinenuts. Happy moussy apple cake to all of you.