The Easiest Apple Sponge Cake

When I was a kid, the smell of this cake meant the whole family was getting together.

I would sit in the kitchen and wait, because the first warm piece was always mine. 🙂

Back home we called it sharlotka. My grandmother made it, my mom made it, and now I make it in my kitchen in Canada, about thirty years and a whole ocean away from where I first tasted it.

Sharlotka is sponge cake with apples.

It’s a very simple, very forgiving cake that every Eastern European family seems to make a little differently, and every grandmother swears hers is the best.

What exactly is sharlotka?

If you’ve never had it, think of an apple cake sponge: a light, airy batter wrapped around a big pile of apples.

The classic version needs only eggs, sugar, flour and apples, and the eggs do most of the work. You beat them until they’re pale and thick, and all that air is what lifts the cake.

In English, the closest name for it is probably apple sponge cake.

Best of all, it’s one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make. You don’t need a stand mixer, a special pan or anything fancy from the store.

If you have a few apples sitting in the fruit bowl, you’re already halfway there.

Of every cake recipe using apples I’ve tried over the years, this is the one I keep coming back to.

The trick: more apples than you think

My grandmother’s sharlotka was never dry, and the reason was simple. She used more apples than seemed reasonable. The pan should look almost all apple, with just enough batter poured over to hold everything together.

The first time you do it, it will look wrong.

Trust it. The batter sinks into every gap, puffs up around the apples, and bakes into a soft, moist crumb with apple in every single bite.

The best apple cake apples

You want apples that hold their shape and bring a little tartness, because the batter is sweet. These are good apple cake apples:

• Granny Smith for a sharp, tart flavour
• Honeycrisp for crunch and juiciness
• Northern Spy, an old Canadian baking favourite
• A mix of two kinds, if you can’t decide

Skip very soft apples like Red Delicious, which turn mushy in the oven. I peel mine and cut them into small cubes, so they cook evenly and every slice holds together.

Sharlotka recipe

This apple sponge cake makes one 9×5-inch loaf, about 8 slices.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 4 to 5 medium apples (about 700 g), peeled and cut into small cubes
• Butter for greasing the pan
• Optional: frosting and a handful of chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or line it with parchment.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is pale, thick and roughly doubled. Don’t rush this step, because this is where the cake gets its lift.
3. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, then fold them gently into the eggs until no dry streaks are left. Fold, don’t stir hard, or you’ll knock the air out.
5. Fill the pan with the apple cubes, right up to the top.
6. Pour the batter over the apples and nudge it into the gaps with a spatula. It should barely cover them.
7. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is deep golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move it to a rack and let it cool completely before frosting or slicing.

Tips for the best fresh apple cake

• Room-temperature eggs whip up faster and higher. If you forgot to take them out, set them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Don’t open the oven in the first 30 minutes. A sponge this light can sink if it gets a blast of cold air.
• If the top browns too fast, lay a piece of foil loosely over it for the last 15 minutes.
• A pinch of cinnamon in the batter is lovely, but it isn’t traditional, so don’t tell anyone’s grandmother.

Make it as apple tea cakes

If you’d rather have small apple tea cakes, bake the same batter in a greased muffin tin. Put a spoonful of apple cubes in each cup, pour the batter over, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. They’re perfect for a lunch box, or for eating three standing at the counter when nobody’s looking.

How to serve it

My grandmother served sharlotka plain, still a little warm. That’s still my favourite way. When I want to dress it up, I add a simple frosting and a handful of chocolate chips, my one small change to a recipe that has been perfect for generations.

It keeps covered at room temperature for 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5. Honestly, in my house it has never lasted that long.

Your turn

Every family has a recipe like this, one that nobody really wrote down but everybody knows by heart. This is mine.

What did your mother or grandmother bake that you still make today? Tell me in the comments. I’d love to hear about it.