German apple cake, frenchified - Test 3

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/7915/german-apple-cake-i/?internalSource=recipe%20hub&referringId=631&referringContentType=recipe%20hub

1 - I've made several changes to the original recipe, and I'm looking forward to tasting the results! The dough, indeed, is quite stiff.

The cake was delicious, very much like a coffee cake. The apple, however, was not very decorative. It shrank and left an unattractive depression in the cake and the apple flesh was a weird beige lump in the depression. Next time I will mix the apple into the batter.

Also, the cake was difficult to get out. I've added instructions on how to prevent sticking (hopefully it will work).

2 - Again, delicious, and the changes I made worked beautifully! 

3 - As I use food that is available I change my approach to cooking. I am moving away from vague references to size (what is a medium apple?) and veering towards mass (mostly in grams) because, well, we have a wild apple tree and the apples are all sizes, and I want to know how many I need to make the recipe. I may eventually make my way to doing away with all measurement tools except for my hands. But not quite yet.

I am also trying different spices, moving away from cinnamon. Someone complained about cinnamon being used everywhere, and while I don't usually take to criticising food, it did make me think that diversifying options for flavoring would be fun to explore. I've started saving suggestions for potential pairings, starting with apple and this recipe.

4 - I learned something. I used a silicone mold which has been challenging in the past. I refrigerated the mold before brushing it with some of the melted butter, refrigerated it again until I needed it, floured it and then put in the batter. It worked like a charm! I want to try it again! I also am indicating increased time if using silicone instead of metal because of how they conduct heat differently. Oh, and it's very good still warm! I am curious to see how the flavor and the experience changes to when it has cooled, to note the differences.

2 eggs
1 cup (8oz/225gr) melted butter 

1 cup (7.1oz/200gr) white sugar
2 tsps. ground cinnamon or Poudre Douce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 medium apples (600gr) peeled, cored and diced (post-prep weight 390 to 420g)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. DO NOT put the bundt cake on a cookie sheet. The hole in the middle acts like a chimney heating the middle of the cake. With a surface blocking it, the cake doesn't bake in the middle.
2. In a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs and butter until creamy. Add the sugar, cinnamon, salt and the vanilla and beat well.
3. With a wooden spoon, beat in the baking soda and flour. The batter will be very thick. 
4. Mix in the diced apple until evenly distributed. It will look lumpy and messy, but don't worry, the batter will puff up and even out while baking. 
5. Bake at 350°F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes (1 hour if using silicone) or until cake tests done. Let cake cool for about 10 minutes before inverting it on a wire rack. If the cake doesn't pop out, just leave it like this and it should come out once it has cooled a bit more and shrunk. Once cake is cool, turn out of the pan and serve with a dusting of confectioners' sugar or with a cream cheese frosting.