As a child, my parents owned a 6 family home. We lived in one of the apartments, my aunt and uncle lived in another, and the rest were rented. We had many tenants over the years we lived there, and my mother made friends with each and everyone of them. She was very social and always had a pot of coffee on the stove and would invite the neighbors frequently for coffee and even for meals.
One of the tenants I remember was Mrs. Bea. She was an elderly woman who had lost her husband just before she moved into our apartment. My mother invited her frequently since she was living alone. I remember she made the best Apple Cake and she would share it with us when she made it. She gave my Aunt the recipe (my Aunt was the baker in the family) but my aunt could never replicate Mrs. Bea's cake. It just wasn't the same. When Mrs. Bea passed, so did her delicious Apple Cake secret.
Over the years I also tried to replicate her recipe, but wasn't successful with the recipe she gave my Aunt. I recently tried to make a gluten free version using different recipes. They were good, but just not the same. Hers had just the right amount of apples to cake. So far this one has come the closest to the one I remember, it is a Martha Stewart recipe, German Apple Cake. The only substitution I made was to use gluten free flour instead of the all-purpose flour.
Gluten Free Apple Cake Printable Recipe
1 cup gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 baking flour)
1 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsps baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1- 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
3-4 tart apples
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a deep dish pie plate. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.
Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Spread evenly in the pan.
Peel, core and slice the apples onto thin slices into a bowl. Add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Toss to coat all the apples.
Arrange the apples in rows on top of the batter, close to each other, pressing each slice into the batter.
Bake for 40 minutes, a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
