This is a delicious, very delicate cake. It's served for dessert everywhere in Charleston, but I like it as a morning cake or afternoon snack. The recipe was named for a small but influential group of French Protestants who fled persecution by their Catholic countrymen and settled lands that became South Carolina more than a century before the Revolutionary War.

　　

Ingredients

One 9-by-13-inch layer cake

　　2 Gala apples

　　7 ounces (1 cup + 5 tablespoons) all-purpose flour, divided

　　4 ounces (1 cup) walnuts

　　3 ounces (3/4 cup) pecans

　　13 ounces (1 3/4 cups) superfine granulated sugar, divided

　　2 ounces (1/2 cup) confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more for dusting

　　1/4 teaspoon salt

　　4 eggs

　　

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and place the rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

　　

Step 2

2. Peel, core, and chop the apples into 1/4-inch cubes. In a large bowl, toss them with 3 tablespoons of the flour to activate the glutens. Use a spoon or flexible spatula, rather than your hands.

　　

Step 3

3. Grind the nuts, 2 ounces of the superfine sugar, and the confectioners' sugar in a food processor with the steel blade for 20 to 30 seconds. In a bowl, mix together the nuts, the remaining flour, and the salt. Whisk to combine.

　　

Step 4

4. Combine the eggs and the remaining superfine sugar in a standing mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment and whip at medium speed until stiff, about 4 minutes.

　　

Step 5

5. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the nut-and-flour mixture to the eggs.

　　

Step 6

6. Fold in the apples using a flexible spatula.

　　

Step 7

7. Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

　　

Step 8

8. Cool the cake to room temperature, dust the top with confectioners' sugar, and cut slices directly from the baking dish.

　　From United Cakes of America: Recipes Celebrating Every State by Warren Brown. Copyright © 2010 by Warren Brown; photographs © 2010 by Joshua Cogan. Published in 2010 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of ABRAMS. Buy the full book from Amazon.