Great-Grandma's Apfelkuchen

Like pretty much everyone, I don't have to look far down the family tree to find someone who came across the ocean on a boat and then stood in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty as their last name was shortened and "Americanized." It was my paternal great-grandparents who were told "Philipovich" was too long. As they adopted a much shorter and much blander variation of the name, they left behind all that they know of their Russian past.

While they fled Russia, my paternal great-grandmother was actually German. The story of how she immigrated from one homeland to the next and then on to the United States is lost, but there is one thing that remains.

Mostly.

I mean, I think I've got it right.

I was 14 when I stayed with my grandmother for a summer. She wrote down the recipe that came from her mom for me. Somehow I managed to find the yellowed notebook that held her words. I couldn't quite make out every line of it, though, so there was a bit of guessing. Still, if this isn't exactly the Apfelkuchen ("Apple Cake") recipe she gave me, it's awfully close.

And it's fantastic. It reminds me of Starbuck's Cinnamon Coffee Cake, but with apples thrown in to make it all of the better.

Great-Grandma's Apfelkuchen (German Apple Cake)

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Pink Lady (or other baking) apples, cored and sliced

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cold
1 teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan.

2. Throw the butter and granulated sugar into a bowl and use your mixer to combine them until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix some more.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Combine the butter mixture and flour mixture, mixing well. Add the cream and mix some more. The cake batter will be thick. Don't sweat it.

5. Spread the cake batter in the pan you prepared. Again, it's going to be thick, but I swear it should be. Top with the apple slices.

6. Time to make the topping. Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, and cinnamon.  Cube the cold butter and then use your hands to mush it into the flour until it's delightfully lumpy. Add the almond extract and stir it all up.

7. Spread the topping over top of the apples.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes before cutting.