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Florentine Apple Cake

This Florentine Apple Cake combines buttery shortcrust pastry with a thick layer of juicy apples, rum-soaked raisins, and a golden, caramelized almond topping. Instead of cinnamon, I season the apple filling with nutmeg and fresh lemon zest. This keeps the filling beautifully light in color while still giving it a wonderfully warm flavor. Ingredients for a 24 cm / 9.5-inch Springform Pan
Course Dessert
Cuisine German
Keyword apple cake with almond topping, florentine apple cake
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Calories 210 kcal

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust Pastry

  • 2 cups 250 g all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp 80 g sugar
  • ½ cup + 1 tbsp 125 g cold butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 –2 tbsp cold water as needed
  • Butter for greasing the pan

For the Apple Filling

  • 2.6 lbs 1.2 kg apples
  • ⅓ cup 40–45 g raisins
  • 3 tbsp rum
  • 3 tbsp 30 g sugar
  • Zest of 1 organic lemon
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 1/2 level tbsp cornstarch or flour

For the Florentine Almond Topping

  • 6 tbsp 85 g butter
  • 3 tbsp 45 g heavy cream
  • ¼ cup 50 g sugar
  • 2½ tbsp about 50 g honey
  • 1⅓ cups 130 g sliced almonds
  • 1 generous pinch salt

Instructions

Prepare the rum raisins.

  1. Combine the raisins with the rum and let them soak for at least 20–30 minutes. Alternatively, you can microwave the raisins with the rum.

Make the shortcrust pastry.

  1. Knead together the flour, sugar, cold butter cut into pieces, egg, salt, and vanilla flavoring. At first, the mixture will resemble coarse crumbs. Continue kneading until it comes together into a smooth, relatively firm shortcrust pastry.
  2. If the dough is still too dry, add cold water one tablespoon at a time, using only as much as needed for the dough to hold together.

Line the pan.

  1. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface until slightly larger than your 24 cm / 9.5-inch springform pan.
  2. Grease the pan and line it with the pastry. Use your fingers to form a 2–3 cm / ¾–1¼-inch high edge. Prick the bottom several times with a fork and place the pan in the refrigerator.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F .

Prepare the apple filling.

  1. Peel, quarter, and core the apples, then cut them into thin slices.
  2. Combine the apples with the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Fold in the rum raisins along with any rum remaining in the bowl.
  3. Spread the apple filling evenly over the chilled pastry and gently press it down.

Make the Florentine almond topping.

  1. Add the butter, cream, sugar, honey, and salt to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring, then let it simmer over medium heat for about 2 minutes.
  2. Remove from the heat and stir in the sliced almonds. Spoon the Florentine mixture over the apples and carefully spread it into an even layer.

Bake.

  1. Loosely cover the cake with aluminum foil and place it in the preheated oven. This prevents the almond topping from browning too quickly.
  2. After half of the baking time, remove the foil and continue baking uncovered until the Florentine topping is beautifully golden and caramelized.
  3. Bake at 180°C / 350°F for about 45–50 minutes total.