Mom's Apple Cake

Ingredients

• apples — 6 apples1.1 kg
• ground cinnamon8 g
• granulated sugar — divided465 g
• all-purpose flour360 g
• baking powder14 g
• fine sea salt — 1 tsp6 g
• vegetable oil235 ml
• orange juice60 ml
• vanilla extract — 2 ½ tsp13 ml
• large eggs4 ea

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a tube pan. Peel, core and chop the apples into 2.5 cm chunks. Toss with the cinnamon and 65 g of the sugar and set aside.
2. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, orange juice, remaining 400 g sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, scraping down the bowl so everything is incorporated.
3. Pour half the batter into the pan and spread half the apples (and their juices) over it. Pour over the remaining batter and arrange the remaining apples on top.
4. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until a tester comes out clean — check just below the top layer of apples too, where batter likes to hide. If it browns too fast, cover with foil for all but the last few minutes.
5. Cool completely before running a knife around the cake and unmoulding onto a platter. It's even better on the following days; keep it at room temperature covered with foil.