Torta di Mele

An easy Italian apple tart, sort of a cross between a pie and a cake, takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and an hour to bake while you finish cooking the rest of your meal.  You can impress your guest with its gorgeous presentation without spending hours in the kitchen.

First assemble your ingredients.  Use an apple that holds its shape during cooking such as a Granny Smith or Cortland.  I would slice your apples slightly thicker than I did.  For a large apple, you should cut each quarter into no more than three slices.

As for preparation, mix your dry ingredients together, then cream eggs, sugar, milk, and butter together.  Combine all wet and  dry ingredients and you should have a very thick, but spreadable batter.   If it’s too thick, thin it down to the consistency of very thick pancake batter with additional milk.   Spread the batter into a greased and floured 9 inch spring form pan then arrange your apple slices in a circular pattern, placing the thin side into the batter.

Dot with two tablespoons of butter and bake at 350 degrees for about one hour; check at 50 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the center.  When the toothpick comes out clean, the torta is done.

2 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

2/3 cup melted, unsalted butter + 2 tablespoons unmelted cut into small cubes

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup milk (may need an additional 2-4 tablespoons)

3 apples peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except the apples. Mix until smooth batter is formed.  Arrange apples in a circle pattern on top of batter. Remove from oven and let cake cool slightly on wire rack.