Hungarian apple cake (Almás pite)
It is a true Hungarian classic, quite popular in the country. A delicious pie filled with sweetened shredded apple spiced with cinnamon and lemon.
70 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
300 grams (2.5 cups) of flour
120 grams (½ cup) of butter
50 grams (½ cup) of powdered sugar
½ sachet of baking powder (6 grams or 1 teaspoon)
½ sachet of vanilla flavored sugar (5 grams or 1 teaspoon)
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon of sour cream
1 beaten 1 for brushing
Pinch of salt
Zest of half a lemon
5-6 medium sized apples, peeled, shredded
50 grams (½ cup) of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons of finely ground walnuts
Juice of half a lemon
Directions:
Mix the flour and the cubed margarine or butter by hand. The mixture will be quite crumbly.
Add the whole egg, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla sugar, baking powder, sour cream, and lemon zest. Knead thoroughly. Add more flour if necessary.
Divide the dough into 2 balls, cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
Peel the apples, core, and shred them. Add the sugar, the cinnamon, and the lemon juice. Mix well and drain the juice. Drink the apple juice, it is delicious. 🙂
Heat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Butter and flour your baking tin.
On a floured surface roll out one part of the dough to the size of the baking tin (10×6), then lay it in.
Sprinkle with half of the ground walnut. Spread the apples on the dough; sprinkle it with the remaining walnuts. Roll out the top crust and place over the apples, sealing the edges and making slits in it.
Prick to allow vapor to escape, and brush with egg wash.
Bake the cake for 30 minutes, until the top is light-browned. Let it cool. Cut into squares, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve.
My G Grandparents and my Grandparents were born in Hungary, and my mother is the first descendant of Hungary and I am the second descendant. I want to learn more of Hungary. I still have some family over there.
The cake came out delicious! I even put some sour cherries in it.
You can make it with sour cherry, then it is a sour cherry pie, Meggyes pite! 😉
I’m not sure what I did wrong, it was more like a pie consistency and I only used 4 apples yet it was too much… what did I do wrong???
Hello Mary,
In Hungarian this dessert is called almás pite, if I wanted to translate it, it would be apple pie. Most of my clients are from the USA for the cooking classes and they always say that they would call it cake, not pie….but it is almost a pie. 🙂
What kind of apples did you use? I experienced that the best was Idared (bit sour but not too much).
You do not indicate the size of the baking pan. What size do you recommend?
Hello Helen,
I used 10×6 inch baking pan for this cake.
Agnes
What kind of flour is it? Cake, all purpose flour?
Hi Yuki,
It is all purpose flour.
Agnes
Shredded apples…do you mean I grate them? Have you used other fruit like peaches?
Hi Barbara,
Sorry for the delayed response. Yes, you grate the apples. You can use sour cherries too.
Agnes
Aloha. I was a pastry chef at Hauer Caffe house,and later at the Gellert Hotel,i left Budapest 1987, and i miss all the delicious pastry,i am baking here different cookies,like banana or mango bread.and avocado brownies.I made poppyseed sheet cake for my American husband, he never know you can ground them.Big fan!I love to bake Hungarian ,but cant get supplies here.Love your recipes! Judit