Apple Cake

 

A beautifully moist cake, this is improved by the (optional) addition of a thin layer of shortcrust pastry as a base in the tin, blind-baked before you add the cake mixture. (This was a trick learned from Romeo, the swiss baker at the Hibiscus Bakery, who produced the TDF croissants that we feasted on in Greece every morning, thirty years and more ago, along with two-day-old newspapers and coffee. Remember when newspapers were still a thing?)

Ingredients:

175g butter; 175g sugar (any kind of sugar will work, but the best result comes from using dark moscovado); 3 medium eggs; 250g plain flour; 3 tsp baking powder; 100 ml white wine; 3 medium apples, diced fine (you want to have about 500g after they've been peeled and cored); 2-3 tbs demarara sugar, for sprinkling. (Plus the optional layer of shortcrust in the base of the tin. It doesn't hurt if you omit this step, but it's definitely an improvement if it's in there).

Method:

1. Grease the tin (22 cm spring-form) and put greaseproof paper on the base. If using the pastry trick, roll it thin, cut a circle to fit the base of the tin and then weight and bake the pastry in a 200 degree C oven (ten minutes with the weights in place, nd then ten minutes without). Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees C after the tin has been removed from the oven.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, using an electric hand beater, and then whisk in the sugar, followed by the eggs. 

3. Fold in the flour and the baking powder. Then thoroughly incorporate the wine, and the finely diced apple. Put the mixture into the cake tin, and level the top. Sprinkle the demarara sugar over the top of the cake.

4. Bake for an hour. Test for done-ness at the end of that time - if a small knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean, it's done, if not then give it another five minutes or so and test again.

Let the cake sit for about ten minutes after it's out of the oven, and before you take it out of its tin. This is also good as a dessert, served in generous slices with a dollop of mascarpone.