Apple Sharlotka

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you may have already guessed why it's been a whole two months since I last posted. It's not that I haven't been cooking...or baking...no, no, no. There were midterms, then finals, then spring break. And now I'm back and ready to catch up on many, many recipes...

On that note...

I love how God always provides for us in the craziest ways. Moving out to LA was scary, even if I was excited and ready for this next phase of life. As I was getting serious about apartment hunting (which you can imagine was difficult, since I was doing all my searches from halfway across the country), I remembered that friends of mine from college had moved out here several years before. I reached out to Emily, who I lived with during my last year at U of I, and she so kindly helped me get my hands on a neat apartment. My subsequent move to LA allowed me to reconnect with Emily and her hubby, Reggie, who I also got to know in college. We didn't stay in close contact after graduating but it worked out that I moved into an apartment just a couple miles from where they were living.

They made my first months in LA so much better, their friendly faces and generous spirits so willing to help me settle in and get acclimated. Unfortunately for me (but exciting for them), they re-located back to Illinois a few months ago, but I'm thankful for the months that we had here to reconnect.

(I've been told that Reggie reads this once in awhile...so Emily and Reggie, if you're reading this...I miss you guys!)

This is a recipe I made for their goodbye shindig, which I took from one of my favorite blogs. It's really simple...and really tasty...and even better served with vanilla bean ice cream!

Ingredients

6 large Granny Smith apples

3 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

Ground cinnamon

Powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and then butter the paper and the sides of the pan.

3. Prepare the apples. After peeling, slice them in half and core them. Then give them a large dice.

4. Place the apples in the prepared pan.

5. In a medium mixing bowl, using a hand- or stand-mixer, combine the eggs and sugar until thick.

*Note: You will know it's ready when "ribbons" form on the surface.

6. Beat in the vanilla extract.

7. Stir in the flour with a spatula until just combined. It's gonna be a thick batter.

8. Pour the batter over the apples and smooth it to cover the entire surface of the pan.

9. Bake for one hour or until a tester comes out clean.

10. Cool for 10 minutes, then flip it out of the pan and gently peel away the parchment paper.

11. Flip back onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Note: you can serve it warm or at room temperature. I like it warm with some vanilla bean ice cream. Yum yum!