I don't tend to bake all that often with fruit. Unless my lovingly produced goodies contain some form of chocolate, they don't tend to be well received by certain quarters of the household. Apple is one of the few exceptions, as I know that at least Mike will be receptive. A few weeks back I bought some cooking apples, with the intention of using them to make the selected recipe for the Weekly Bake Off. But I ran out of time, so never got around to it. Pretty soon, every time I opened the fridge, the apples would glare at me. I began to feel guilty for what I feared would be yet another example of profligate waste. That is, buying something intending to use it for something specific and then having to throw it out as it has gone off before I've actually got around to doing it.
But then I remembered this recipe, which some years ago, I used to often make for Mike. I don't really know why I stopped, as it a gorgeous cake, which is perfect either as a warm dessert or as elevenses to accompany your morning coffee. It's quite simple, but you do need to get your hands mucky. That's actually good fun, and before you know it, your home will be filled with the delicious aroma of baking apples and cake.
I suppose it's quite an autumnal recipe, but as the weather in Cardiff was pretty horrible last weekend, it made the perfect treat for Father's Day.
Apple Crumble Cake (adapted from Gary Rhodes' Food with Friends)
Ingredients
350g cooking apples (about 3 medium sized)
225g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
115g butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
115g soft light brown sugar
2-3 tbspn milk
1-2 tbspn demerera sugar
Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 conventional / 350F / Gas 4.
Lightly grease a 23cm (9 inch) sandwich tin and place on a baking sheet.
Sift the flour, salt and nutmeg into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Peel, core and chop the apples and mix them with the soft brown sugar.
Fold into the flour mixture and add enough milk to make a soft batter. The mix should not be sticky though.
Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level it, pushing into the sides.
Sprinkle with the demerera sugar. This will give the cake a lovely crunchy top.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch.
This is lovely when it is allowed to cool a little, but served while still warm.
I love it with a splosh of cream; Mike loves his with some vanilla ice cream. Either way, the crunchy top and soft fluffy cake littered with melting chunks of apples can't fail to please.
Enjoy,
Susie
Yum! I don't usually bake with fruit too often either - chocolate also always wins in my house! but some of this warm apple cake with some vanilla ice cream sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gem. It is lovely and would work with other kinds of fruit, too! :)
DeleteI love apple crumble cake! I remember making lots last autumn and ate it with custard or ice cream. Definitely feels very autumnal which is what the weather has been like although we did get some sun this week! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it is definitely a great cold weather bake! I think I'd rather have some sun though ... :)
DeleteGorgeous cake indeed, Susie :) Bookmarked!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna, glad you like it! :)
DeleteA beautiful cake! I have a similar recipe but I live your crumbly texture. Must try this. I too hate throwing so much away. I've taken to freezing a lot if stuff. You could cube the apples and then freeze them for future use!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dom. I hadn't thought about freezing the apples, I guess I assumed they wouldn't freeze well because of the high water content unless they were pre-cooked. Will have to give it a go, though(especially if it saves me wasting them)! :)
DeleteI think the weather is so dismal at the moment that I see nothing wrong with making a delicious apple crumb cake.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, I bake with fruit a lot. I had never realised that! I think it's because I love the juicy bursts of flavour you get with them. Plus I get to fool myself into thinking I'm getting one of my 5 a day. I'm baking banana loaf as we speak!
Thanks Jo! The weather has been pretty horrendous.
DeletePart of the reason for me starting the blog was to experiment a bit more - although I've always loved baking, when I did it I tended to stick to chocolate or, at a push, apple, lemon or strawberry recipes as that's what I knew Mike and the boys would like. That's what they still prefer but at least we're all getting a bit more adventurous. The blueberry and lemon drizzle loaf I did, for example, was a favourite!
Ooh yum, it's hard to beat a good apple cake - err perhaps chocolate ;-)
ReplyDeleteChocolate's pretty hard to beat any day ;) but this is gooood! (said in my best Homer Simpson!)
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ReplyDelete