Arabesque Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake

An arabesque is a fanciful, decorative piano piece. Inspired by the music, I decided to make a more fanciful version of your traditional apple cake recipe.

Ingredients

cake

1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) softened butter (Earth Balance)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2/3 cup organic cane sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla soymilk

topping

3 small-medium sized green apples peeled and halved

4 tbsps sugar

2 tbsps cinnamon

1/4 cup apricot jam, warmed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degress F.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift in flour and baking powder (don't skip on the sifting part, it gives the cake a fluffier texture). Add soymilk and mix well.

Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with baking parchment. Grease entire pan with cooking spray and spoon in cake batter.

For the topping, cut a row of thin and deep slits in each apple half and arrange over top of the cake batter. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle across the top of the cake and the apples. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove cake from oven and brush the top of it with the warm jam. Return the cake to the oven for 10 more minutes or until fully cooked (you can test to see if it is done by inserting the blade of a small knife into the middle of the cake to see if it comes out clean). Serve with soy vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Music suggestions:

• Arabesque No. 1- Claude Debussy
• Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 114 "The Trout": IV. Tema con variazioni (Andantino)- Franz Schubert