Don’t you just love saying “Marie Helene” with a heavy French accent?  It’s almost as good as “bouche de noel,” or “”mise en place” or “recherche du temps perdue.”

This is such a simple, satisfying and forgiving dish.  You can use any kind of apples you might have on hand (and you may have many right now).  The ingredients are ones you probably also have on hand: flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, sugar, dark rum (which, according to others who made this, is optional), vanilla and butter.

The recipes calls for an 8″ springform pan but I read on French Fridays with Dorie that many made it in regular cake pans (not springform), hence the “forgiving.”  I think my springform is 9″ so my cake was a little shorter than the photo in the book but still delicious.

I suspect you could substitute the rum for any other type of liqueur or flavoring (almond extract, for example).  Next time, I will adorn this with powdered sugar and/or a huge dollop of whipped cream.

In summary: an easy fall dessert that you can whip up without a special trip to the store that will make the most of your favorite variety of apples.