Apple Chocolate Cake

Every now and then I tried to "clean-up" my fridge and pantry. It's like Ali Baba's cave. I always find something buried that I completely forgot about and should be used or else thrown away soon. So yesterday I ended up doing something completely different from what I had planned. I found 5 Red Delicious apples that weren't that delicious and this is why they were still in the fridge after 3 weeks. I also had 5 squares Baker’s style dark chocolate, left over from the 2 pounds bought at Christmas time. I knew I had to use them up! As you can see, the chocolate and layer of apples ended up in the bottom tier of the cake rather than in the middle. Nevertheless, the result was this simple and unpretentious cake to enjoy any time.

Ingredients
For the apples:
5 apples
3 tablespoons brown sugar

For the cake:
4 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons rum
4+1 tablespoons orange juice
5 squares Baker’s style dark chocolate

9 inch round pan

Directions

Cooking the apples
Peel, core and cut the apples around 1 inch long x 1/3 inch thick. Place in a saucepan with the brown sugar. Mix gently and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the apples start to soften.

Making the cake

1. Heat your oven at 375 degrees F
2. Butter your mold and dust evenly with flour
3. Separate the egg whites and yolks
4. In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer. You should obtain a pale yellow color
5. Gradually add the oil, then the rum and juice, while still beating
6. Whisk the flour, corn starch and baking powder together and add to the sugar and egg mixture, mixing until well blended
7. Fold in half of the cooked apples into the batter
8. Beat the egg whites until firm and fold in delicately
9. Melt the chocolate with one tablespoon of orange juice in the microwave
10. Pour half of the batter in the mold
11. Spread the remaining apples evenly, then the melted chocolate
12. Cover with remaining batter
13. Bake at 375 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30-35 minutes
14. Let the cake cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Run a thin spatula or knife around the edge of the cake to loosen the sides from pan and shake to unmold. Invert the cake over on a plate and let it cool completely.
Decorate with icing sugar.