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Recipe for Irish Apple Cake with Custard Sauce

My recipe for Irish Apple Cake is a traditional recipe with custard sauce. It's lightly sweetened and perfect for dessert year-round of for St. Patrick's Day. Save it today!
5 from 4 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Irish
Keyword: Irish apple cake, kerry cake, Recipe for Irish apple cake
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 10 -12 slices
Author: Rachel

Equipment

  • 8 or 9 inch round spring form pan
  • Parchment paper

Ingredients

Ingredients for my recipe for Irish Apple Cake or Kerry Cake

  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. cloves
  • 12 Tbsp. butter, salted It can be cold or room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 Large Granny Smith Apples
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • An additional 2 Tablespoons of sugar for topping

Ingredients for the custard

  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla

Instructions

Ingredients for the Irish Apple Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Grease an 8 or 9 inch baking pan on the bottom and the sides. Then line the bottom with parchment paper
  • Wash, peel and dice the apples. Set aside.
  • Sift or whisk the flour, spices, salt and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl. This will be the main mixing bowl so make sure it is large enough for the dough and apples.
  • Cut the butter into the flour mix.
  • Mix in the sugar and then add the apples and coat them with the mix.
  • Whisk together the milk and the eggs. Add this to the flour and apple mix and mix with a large spatula or wooden spoon. The batter will be really thick.
  • Add the dough to the prepared cake pan and smooth the top of the batter. Make sure that the batter all the way down in the cake pan along the sides too.
  • Sprinkle the additional sugar over the top of the cake.
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes. Use a tooth pick or a bamboo skewer to test for doneness in the center.
  • Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.
  • Serve warm or cold with the custard sauce or clotted cream!

Instructions for the custard sauce

  • Whisk together the eggs and the sugar.
  • Add the milk to a sauce pan on the stove and set the flame to medium to low. Keep an eye on it to make sure it's not boiling or even simmering. You want to steam it so when you see steam coming off the surface of the milk, it's done.
  • SLOWLY whisk together a little bit of the milk with the egg mix. You do this slowly to keep the eggs from scrambling. Add the milk little by little, whisking gently.
  • Once all the milk has been added to the egg mix, add everything back to the sauce pan and heat over low. Whisk slowly and frequently to ensure the eggs aren't scrambling. The idea is to cook them so slow they create custard. it will take 5-10 minutes. You will know it is done when the custard mix coats the back of the spoon nicely but is still runny.
  • Remove it from the heat and let it rest. Continue to slowly mix every now and then. After about 10 minutes whisk in the vanilla.
  • The custard sauce can be served warm or cold.