Apple Cake With Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Ingredients

Apple Cake
7 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing pan
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 apples
1 cup sugar
Zest from 1/2 lemon, chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons bread crumbs

Cinnamon Whipped Cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum

Instructions

Apple Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a small pan. Add the pecans, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, and sauté for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Slice the unpeeled apples into 14 wedges, and put them in a plastic bag with cup sugar, the spice-pecan mixture, and lemon zest. Shake the bag to make sure the apple wedges are covered.

In a bowl, beat together the remaining sugar and butter until it turns white. Stir in the egg. Mix together the vanilla sugar, flour, and baking powder, and stir it into the creamed butter, and then add the half-and-half.

Butter a 9-inch round pan, and coat with bread crumbs. Pour in the batter, and place the apple wedges on the batter, in the shape of a clock, placing the two remaining wedges in the middle. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the top of the apples, and bake in the oven for about 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream
Toast the cinnamon in a small sauté pan over medium heat until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool.

Combine the cream and sugar in a large bowl and beat until semi-stiff peaks form, then fold in the vanilla, cinnamon, and rum.