French Apple Cake

1 cup All-Purpose Flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off)

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

¼ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

⅔ cup Granulated Sugar (plus more for sprinkling over cake)

2 Large Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 tablespoons Dark Rum

2 Baking Apples (peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, Honeycrisp, Fuji or Granny Smith, 3 1/2 - 4 cups chopped)

add

Confectioners' Sugar (optional, for decorating cake

Oven at 350, grease a springform pan, or line the bottom of a regular cake pan with parchment and grease a second time.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in small bowl.

Cream butter and granulated sugar. Add eggs one at a time, scraping after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Its’s ok if batter is grainy. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in the chopped apples with a spatula.

Scape into pan and even it out. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon bakers sugar or granulated sugar. Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick tests out. Allow to cool on a rack in the pan. If using a springform, remove the sides; if using a cakepan, carefully invert. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm or at room temperature, plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.