Apple – poppy seed – marzipan sheet cake

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• 1.2 kg apples
• 5 tbsp lemon juice
• 125 g marzipan – raw mass
• 250 g butter
• 325 g sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar
• 9 eggs
• 350 g flour
• 75 g cornstarch
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 300 g quark (low-fat quark)
• ½ pack of sauce powder, vanilla flavor (for cooking 500ml of liquid)
• 1 pack poppy seeds – baking
• 2 tbsp apricot jam
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• Fat and flour for the oven drip tray

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours

Peel the apple, quarter it, and remove the core. Score the tops of the apples lengthwise 3-4 times. Drizzle with lemon juice and cover. Coarsely grate the marzipan (I always chop it very finely), beat with butter, 250g sugar, salt, and a pinch of vanilla sugar until creamy. Gradually whisk in 6 eggs. Stir in the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Whisk the quark with 3 eggs, 75g sugar, sauce powder, and the remaining pinch of vanilla sugar. Drain the apples. Spread the batter into a greased and floured roasting pan. Spoon the poppy seed mixture and quark mixture onto the pan, tablespoon by tablespoon. Place the apples in the pan. Bake at 175°C (150°C fan oven) for about 45 minutes. Strain the jam through a sieve and brush it onto the apples. Let cool. Dust the cake with icing sugar.