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1
Preheat the oven to 350F.
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2
Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat, toss in the apples, and cook until they begin to soften, 7 to 9 minutes.
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3
Turn off the heat and let cool.
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4
In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest.
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5
Beat the mixture with a whisk until very thick, very pale, and doubled in size, then whisk in the olive oil and Vin Santo.
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6
Gently whisk in the flour.
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7
Reserve.
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8
Put all 7 egg whites and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (you can use a hand beater here if you dont have a stand mixer) and using the whisk attachment beat the whites until they form stiff peaks.
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9
Fold one-third of the whites into the cake batter until just combinedto do this, use a rubber spatula to lift the whites gently from underneath, bring the spatula up, turn it over, and fold the whites over as you rotate the bowl slowly.
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You want to do this gently and quickly; the point is to keep as much air in the whites as you can.
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Repeat this process two more times with the remaining whites.
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Youre done when you have a fluffy, homogeneous mixture.
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Brush the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil.
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14
Transfer the cake batter to the prepared pan and arrange the sauteed apples in an even layer on top of the cake.
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Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
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16
Remove the cake from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, remove the sides of the springform, and let the cake cool completely.
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17
Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.
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Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and swirl or stir to combine.
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Add the apples and toss to coat well.
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Add the raisins and Vin Santo and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the apples are soft but still hold their shape.
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Turn off the heat and reserve.
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Meanwhile, combine the mascarpone and granulated sugar in a small bowl.
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23
TASTE!
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Mmmmm .
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.
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26
.
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Serve a slice of the cake with the warm apple topping and garnish with a spoonful of the sweetened mascarpone.
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28
Separating and whisking egg whites isnt hardbut it does take some practice.
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29
First, when separating eggs, make sure that absolutely no yolk gets into the whites.
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30
If youre going for yolks, its fine to have some whites mix in by accident, but if you get even the tiniest bit of yolk in your whites, they will never whip up.
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To whisk egg whites, always add a pinch of saltthis helps them whip up faster and fluffier.
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Also, use the second-highest speed on your mixer, not the highest; this allows the whites to whip up more slowly and gives them more backbone (if you whisk whites too quickly, they whip up fast and fall fast!).
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To know whether the peaks are soft or stiff, use my peak-o-meter test (which works for whipped cream too): After whisking, take the bowl and whisk off the mixer, swirl the whisk around in the whites, then pull the whisk straight out and pausethen, after a second or two, tip the whisk on its side.
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If the peak sticking off the end of the whisk bends over or tilts down, thats a soft peak.
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If it sticks straight outthats a stiff peak!
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Leave the apples in the pan to cool while you assemble the cake batter; then use the same pan to make the toppinglook at me, thinking ahead and saving YOU some dirty dishes!
