Italian Apple Cake.

Hello all, sorry for that delay in posting, this week has literally been Dante’s Inferno in action. Tonight’s post is all about that vanilla, cinnamon scented baking of Italy. This apple cake is fabulous served just above room temperature with a slosh of cold single cream, or at a desperate point in the afternoon when the only two things in this life that will solve the problem is a cup of Earl Grey and a slice of this cake. Personally, I never really liked Italian cakes as I assumed them to be dry and over baked, but I have been mistaken, I can’t survive without one now.. This cake is simply moist, cinnamon scented and toned with vanilla. It is certainly what you need on a cold ‘winters’ day. By winter I do mean it sincerely, Glasgow has taken a turn for the worse in terms of temperature, do not get me wrong, I do love a cold winters evening, or a brisk walk in the park on a Saturday morning before a cup of sunshine coffee. But you do feel that ever longing desire for the warm September sunsets.

INGREDIENTS:

85g unsalted butter, soft.

3 Granny Smith apples.

Juice and zest of 1 unwaxed lemon.

3 eggs.

150g golden caster sugar.

1 vanilla pod or few drops of extract or paste.

300g self raising flour.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 C. Grease and line a cake pan (20cm) with  greaseproof paper.

Peel, core and chop the apples into 1cm chunks. Squeeze over the lemon juice and toss to prevent them from oxidising.

Whisk together, the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add the butter and whisk in vigorously. Add the lemon and vanilla.

Sift in the flour, then switch to a spatula and fold in gently losing as little air as possible. Add the apples and fold through the mix, the juice from the apples should loosen the mixture a little.

Bake on the middle oven shelf for about 40 minutes or until golden in colour. Test in the centre and if the skewer comes out perfectly clean, then cake is ready. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes on a wire rack, then loosen the tin and remove and leave to cool until completely cold, or just above room temperature if serving as a pud.

Enjoy, thanks for reading,

Ryan!

Chocolate Malteser Cake!

Hello all, how are we on this rather chilly, windy and rainy evening? Well I find myself inside in the cosy warmth, listening to Adam’s Lullaby sang by Natasha Atlas, whilst constructing the post for you. As you know and I as I have been mentioning over the past few weeks, posting has been rather static, and I do give you my sincere apologies. I’ll have another recipe for you tomorrow too!

Oh really do give that song a listen, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, Arabic singing, but it is just lovely. Tonight’s recipe is a chocolate cake studded with Malteser chocolates and a cake and icing that have malt powder and chocolate in them to resemble the physical chocolates on the cake. It has a certain lightness about it and with next to no butter you feel no guilt whatsoever, going back and cutting another slice. It is a very aesthetically pleasing cake to look at, and you could pretend its for the kids, but we all know your secret…. its ok I won’t tell!

A slice of this cake and a cup of tea in hand, is all one needs on a cold, wet autumnal day, staring out at the bleak, opaque sky, watching the slowly dripping rain drops, slide off the window pains. Tomorrows cake is even more spectacular when the colder nights are drawing in and the prospect of leaving the house is beyond the unimaginable. Just a little spontaneous side note, but I should let you know about a great composer (contemporary) named Alexander Desplat, he writes music for many feature films, including Harry Potter, The Kings Speech and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The latter being one of my most recent discoveries and it is just a fantastic film that is well worth the watch, along with my newly discovered and new favourite TV series on BBC One, Our Girl. Check it out, it is really great and 100% must watch series!!!!

INGREDIENTS:

150g soft light brown sugar.

100g caster sugar.

3 eggs.

175ml whole milk.

15g butter.

2 tbsp Horlicks or Malt powder.

175g plain flour.

25g cocoa.

1 tsp baking powder.

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda.

For the Icing:

250g icing sugar.

1 tsp cocoa.

45g Horlicks or Malt powder.

2 tbsp boiling water.

125g soft unsalted butter.

120g Malteser chocolates.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 3 / 170C. Butter and line two sandwich tins and set aside.

Whisk together the sugars and eggs, until pale and lightly frothy. Heat the milk, Horlicks and butter in a pan until everything has melted, do not boil. When the eggs and sugar are ready, add the milk mixture.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa. Then spoon in the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until a cake skewer comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 5 minutes before turning out to cool completely on wire racks.

To make the icing, place the icing sugar, cocoa and Horlicks into a food processor and blitz until lump-free. Add the butter and blitz until clumpy and beginning to look like buttercream. you will need to add the water slowly until you reach a smooth spreadable consistency. I found I required the full two tablespoons.

Once the cakes are completely cool, place the uglier sponge on the base and spread thickly with a generous amount of the buttercream. Then place the other sponge on top and ice the top surface. Stud the outside surface with Malteser chocolate and serve.

Enjoy, and see you all soon!

Ryan!