APPLE WALNUT Cake

Apples in the attic, Apples in the hall, Apples in the summer, Apples in the fall. Apples make you healthy, Apples make you tall. I will eat some apples, I will eat them all! 

In September my partner and I decided to go PYO apples and pears from a farm near Sittingbourne, just a short drive from home. We did it last year and I enjoyed it so much I just had to go again this year. There is something very special about being able to pick your own fruit straight off the tree. It's a totally enjoyable experience and it's so easy to get carried away and pick more apples and pears than you will ever need, my excuse is that I am giving them to family and friends so I can linger longer in the apple orchard.

We were picking Windsor Apples and Cox Apples and also a few Conference Pears. Even though we picked them exactly the same week last year, this time the apples and pears were ripe for the picking about 10 days earlier so we ended up having to choose carefully and cover more ground as well to pick the few kilos we needed. It is so easy to keep picking, I was glad once again it didn't get to 10kg, I mean who needs £17 worth of fruit? LOL Don't worry it only came to £11. The price is the same whether you PYO or buy from the farm shop, £1.70 per kg THE DIFFERENCE IS YOU HAVE PICKED THEM FRESH TODAY!

Of course, we keep our freshly picked apples and pears in the fridge, it's the coolest place in the flat, and we usually eat them or cook them within 4 weeks. Otherwise, if there were many more we would store them in the cool garage.

CAKE RECIPE

This recipe is our version of the Fat Ladies "Danish Apple and Prune Cake" which they took from the Australian cook, Greta Anna. When we first tried their recipe we were a bit disappointed because it was overbaked and the apple pieces on top were overdone, so it sort of looked like an overdone pizza! We could still eat it but it was dry and crusty, not the kind of cake I was imagining eating. Anyway, I am not one to give up and this time I really wanted it to work. I made a few changes to the recipe and with "fingers crossed" it worked out perfectly.

INGREDIENTS

Cake Batter:

140g butter

170g caster sugar

2 medium eggs, well beaten

85g self-raising flour

115g ground almonds

125ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp boiling water

1/2 tsp baking powder

Extra ingredients:

8 stoned prunes, chopped

115g walnuts, finely chopped

2 tbsp sugar

2 Windsor apples, peeled, cored, chopped and cooked

METHOD

Preheat your oven 190C (170C fan).  Butter and line 23cm(9in) round spring-form cake tin.

Into a food processor, place all the cake ingredients, cream together, until well-blended, about 10-20 seconds. Run the spatula around the bowl and process for 5 seconds more.

Pour 2/3 of batter into the buttered and lined cake tin. 

Scatter the prunes over the batter. Spoon over the walnut and sugar mixture. Arrange the cooked apple pieces on top of the walnuts. Pour the remainder of the batter over the top of the apples.

Bake for 45 mins. Test with a skewer, till it comes out clean.

Cool it in the tin.

Enjoy with a dollop of creamy Greek yoghurt, extra thick cream or creme fraiche. Tastes great on its own as well!

CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL RECIPE:

Reduced caster sugar, added mixed spice and ground ginger, and cooked the apples. Split the batter. Omitted the extra sugar, cinnamon and butter sprinkled on top after baking for 45mins, therefore also reduced the total baking time by 25mins.

Enjoy your freshly picked apples however you like to eat them!