Apfelkuchen

I work for a judge, and every other week, all the judges in the court meet over breakfast, and they rotate who brings food. This week it's our chambers' turn to bring the goodies, and my judge, who knows I like to cook, asked me to make something.

My first thought was to make baked apples tossed in butter, spices, and sugar with granola baked on top. Because I hate cloyingly sweet things for breakfast. But the judge said that many of the other judges liked stuff that was a bit more decadent.

My next thought was to bake a pie...I make good pies, and I love pie for breakfast. Then I remembered that it's March and no fruit is in season. I looked at a bunch of recipes and eventually stumbled across one for coffee cake, which reminded me of this recipe that I became pretty much obsessed with this summer. I made it with peaches, I made it with plums, and then I made it with peaches again.

This being March, I decided to adapt it for apples. I also made Blueberry Boy Bait with frozen blueberries, and it's delicious...very buttery and only slightly sweet, it's an ideal breakfast cake. Plus, it was super easy. To adapt it to our altitude, reduce baking powder to a generous 2 1/2 teaspoons. To make the night before, wrap the pan in foil when you remove it from the oven to keep the boy bait as moist as possible.

Apfelkuchen
Adapted from Gourmet, via Smitten Kitchen.

2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup tepid water (about skin temperature, 90F)
2 cups (267 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (18 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup sugar (220 grams), divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (124 grams) at room temperature
1 large egg, warmed in shell in warm water five minutes
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 sticks (5 ounces or 142 grams) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons and softened, divided
3/4 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c raisins
1/4 c rum
3/4 pound apples, peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced crosswise (about 1 apple)

Pour the rum over the raisins to soak. Stir together yeast and warm water in mixer bowl and let stand until foamy, about five minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

Add two cups flour, 2/3 cup sugar, salt, yogurt, egg, spices, and vanilla to yeast mixture and mix at medium-low speed 1 minute. Beat in one stick of the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until incorporated. Beat at medium speed until dough is smooth and shiny, about five minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.) Scrape down side of bowl and sprinkle dough with remaining two tablespoons flour. Cover bowl loosely with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Butter a baking sheet. Cream the remaining two tablespoons butter with the remaining 1/3 c sugar, then mix in the walnuts and raisins. Spread the mixture in bottom of a 8- or 9- inch square (I used a 7 x11, because that's what I had) baking pan. Slice and peel the apple and arrange in one layer in the pan.

Stir dough until flour is incorporated, then spread evenly over apples. Loosely cover with buttered plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until almost doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Bake until kuchen is golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan five minutes, then invert and unmold onto a rack to cool completely.

Serve with additional yogurt, lightly sweetened, or sweetened crème fraîche.

For an uglier, but longer-lasting, kuchen, dice the apples, mix with the butter, sugar, raisins, and nuts, and fold into the dough before spreading it into a greased baking pan.