A couple of weeks ago, I had the urge to make an Apple Cake. Everyone was talking about Autumn, how the leaves were turning and the temperatures were dropping and apple cake just seemed appropriate.
I had an idea of what kind of apple cake I wanted to make. I found a recipe on smitten kitchen that I really wanted to try and I also found another recipe that I remembered tearing out of a magazine years ago.After looking at the 2 recipes, I realized that they were almost identical, but slightly different.
I decided to make 1/2 recipe of both cakes and compare them. This also meant I got to use my cute mini bundt and mini tube pans.
Gigi's uses granny smith apples that are thinly sliced and mixed into the batter. Cinnamon is also mixed into the batter and it is mixed with a hand mixer.
SK uses macintosh apples, cut in cubes and only the apples are tossed in cinnamon. The batter is layered with the apples, not mixed. This cake has more baking powder and salt and a tad more flour. It does not use a mixer.
The SK batter was thicker, looked more like cake batter, and most of the mini's were done at 30 minutes, although I started checking 5 minutes before that.
Gigi's cake batter was thinner, almost like a quick bread or muffin.
I reduced the sugar in both cakes. SK by about 1/3 cup and Gigi by 1/4 cup.
The definite favorite with most people was smitten kitchen's apple cake. I took these little cakes to my husband's work and both of the cakes were devoured, so both were good.My son preferred Gigi's, for some reason. He couldn't really put into words why though.
This was a fun little autumn experiment.
Recipe for Gigi's Apple Cake
Recipe for Mom's Apple Cake on smitten kitchen
One Year Ago- Dorie's Pumpkin Muffins
What fun Mary Ann. Next time you need a taste tester for Apple Cake, I'm available:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...
Oh, lovely! THis look delicious and I love apples baked in things so I'm sure to make this one. Also, I've been on a hunt for a good blueberry muffin. Checked your blog and found the healthy, blueberry banna muffin and I'm gonna try it but I'm looking for just plain moist blueberry muffins to keep in stock for breakfasts. You're my go to gal...tried any good ones lately?
ReplyDeleteFun! I love comparisons! They both look fantastic but if you say SK's recipe was the winner, that's the one I'm going to stick on my to-bake list :)
ReplyDeleteI made Smitten Kitchen's Apple Cake too, a few weeks ago. I brought it to work and everyone went absolutely mad! They all asked if I would make them a cake for the Jewish holiday weekend- ended up making( and selling!) 15 cakes!Yours look just like mine did - the best apple cake ever! Love the comparison idea - good for you!
ReplyDeleteBaking experiments are so much fun, aren't they!
ReplyDeleteGosh, those look wonderful! Both of them. Smitten Kitchen is usually right on the money- so I will try that one. Thanks for doing the testing for the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteBoth cakes look incredibly delicious. I feel like I would like the Gigi's one better with apple slices rather than chunks, but I guess I won't know until I bake them! (I also like Granny Smiths better than McIntosh apples.)
ReplyDeleteI have mini bundt and tube pans too, and I absolutely love them!
Love those!! So pretty and yummy!!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to make an apple cake too! Thanks for doing the research for me. They both sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteThey both look great! I think I'll give Smitten Kitchen's a try first. If you're up for ANOTHER apple cake, head over to Simply Recipes. Elise has a really good one there. So far it's my favorite.
ReplyDeleteHere's link:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mrs_paxtons_raw_apple_cake/
I really enjoy your blog!
Both look delicious. YUM. I love apples. Maybe it's time to do an apple week?
ReplyDeleteOh boy.. the cakes look so moist and yummy!! I'm definitely going to try it sometime!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I actually did this with some pound cake recipes but haven't posted them yet. I love doing stuff like this ;)
ReplyDeleteI love recipe comparisons. I'm glad you found your favourite!
ReplyDeleteTaste-offs are the BEST! But now I'm torn: Gigi's looks like I'd like it better, but I wouldn't want to go against the majority of taste testers... hmmm, what to do? Great job with these.
ReplyDeleteBoth of those look soooo delicious. It would be hard to chose between them.
ReplyDeleteThey both look delicious. I made the SK apple cake some months ago and it was a huge hit. I'll definitely be making it again....soon! :)
ReplyDelete