From Tallulah’s Kitchen – Apple Cake
and welcome to another bright and shiny edition of The Listing.
So, September already, how the months are flying by! All summer I have been keeping an eye on my apple tree and this year looks to bring a bumper crop of apples, so I thought I would share with you a recipe I recently came across in an old family recipe book. I think the addition of a hand full of sultanas or dried cherries would be a welcome addition to the recipe but experiment with your favourite flavours… I’d love to hear how you get on.
Apple Cake
• 225g Self raising flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 225g Golden caster sugar
• 2 Eggs from happy and healthy free running hens
• 125g Butter-melted
• 325g Cooking apples, peeled and cut into slices
• A pinch of ground cinnamon (options – leave out if not your thing!)
• 25g Flaked almonds
• 1/2 Teaspoon almond essence
Let’s begin by popping the oven on to 160° and lining and greasing an 8” deep, loose bottomed, cake tin.
Next, pop the flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl. Now pour in the eggs, almond essence and butter and beat until everything is combined and the batter is smooth and free from lumps. Now spoon half the mixture into the cake tin and then layer on the apple slices to totally cover the surface, then sprinkle over with cinnamon. Top this with the remaining cake batter finishing with a “blob” effect rather than a smooth finish, and top with the flaked almonds.
Bake for approximately 1.5 hours. All ovens are different so test your cake as it bakes. I recently cooked this in someone else’s oven and it was ready in just over the hour.
You are looking for a good rise, an even golden brown colour to the top of the cake and for a knife or cocktail stick to come away clean when removed from the cake. Also when you hold the cake close to your ear it will be silent, where as an under cooked cake will still be making tiny bubbling noises… take care not to burn your face though!
Once you are satisfied the cake is cooked remove it from the oven, place on a cooling rack and release the sides of the tin but leave the cake in the tin for a good 15 minutes to cool. Then simply peel away the grease proof paper and enjoy a slice, or two, with a lovely cup of tea and good company.
Until next time dear reader…
Tallulah Le Fey xx
