Fresh Apple Cake

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 10 inch springform pan.

Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze the lemon into the water. Peel and thinly slice the apples, placing them into the water when finished. This keeps them from turning brown.

Combine gluten-free flour blend, quinoa flakes, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and continue to beat. The butter will be a little clumpy. Add buttermilk, apple juice concentrate, vanilla, lemon zest, and orange zest and mix well.

Drain apples, shaking off extra water. Place back into the large bowl.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until combined. Pour batter over apples and toss, coating apples thoroughly. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan, using a rubber spatula to scrape all of the batter out then smooth out the top so the apple slices are laying flat.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes until batter is set and apples are soft but not mushy.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then run a spatula between the cake and the edge of the pan and release.

*To make raisin sweetened buttermilk, chop 1/8 cup of raisins. Soak in ½ cup buttermilk for 24 hours. Strain the buttermilk before using. Use the raisins in any bread or muffin recipe. Store the extra buttermilk in the fridge for another use – or another cake!