Apple, cranberry and cinnamon cake

Whenever I spot fresh cranberries for sale in the run up to Christmas I excitably buy a pack to make this cake and/or these muffins.

However whenever I look for the recipe in my recipe file I remember I haven't written it down so I have to check my blog archive. . . only to remember I've never given the cake its own blog post either. My only mention of it is in a 2015 festive bakes round up.

I baked this cake again recently and felt it was time to rectify the lack of dedicated blog post. It's only taken close to 10 years. My yellow-tinged, night time photography with zero styling does not do the cake justice but the recipe is documented and should be easier to find in the future.

A used teabag for classy background decor. 

The original recipe was from a lovely old blog called Honey and Dough but I've tweaked it to suit myself over the years. If you still have festive cranberries hiding in your fridge or freezer this is a lovely way to use them up. 

Christmas 2022/New Year when I baked both the cake and the muffins. These were my first bakes in our new home. I still can't quite believe we moved house 2 days before Christmas that year. Madness.

Apple, cranberry and cinnamon cake

Recipe adapted from Honey and Dough blog

125g softened butter/margarine

125g soft light brown sugar 

2 eggs (large)

125g self raising flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tblsp milk

1 cooking apple (peeled, cored and sliced)

Approx. 100g fresh cranberries (chopped in half if they're big)

1 tblsp Demerara sugar for sprinkling on top before baking.

Preheat the oven to 160C fan / 180C/ gas mark 4 and grease and line a 7" deep round cake tin.

Beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a food mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour, cinnamon, vanilla and milk and mix until everything is fully combined. Stir in around half of the cranberries.

Pour the cake batter into the tin and arrange the apple slices on top in a circular fan shape. Scatter the remaining cranberries on top along with a tbsp of demerara sugar.

Bake for approx. 1 hour until golden, well risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. I check on mine after 50 minutes and add a layer of greaseproof paper to the top if it looks well coloured but the inside isn't fully baked yet.

Serve with a dusting of icing sugar. Eat warm or cold, both ways are delicious.

Betty's rhubarb - a crumble and a tart

Dare I say it, but I think I can almost see a glimpse of light at the end of the house renovating tunnel. The demolishing stage felt neverending, but things are finally going back in. Plumbing  is underway, the rewiring is nearly finished and new insulation and plasterboard are going up. Plasterboard automatically makes the space look cleaner and brighter which is exciting.

There have been a few "oh my god, WHAT?!" discoveries and eyebrow raising moments in my six months of house-ownership, but thankfully they have been manageable and fixable without too much cost rather than devastating.

One of the more pleasant discoveries was finding rhubarb growing in the overgrown garden. I didn't expect to find anything edible growing there so it felt like a real treat. Thanks, Betty!

*Betty was the elderly lady who owned the house before me. We found a *lot* of her stockings tied round bits of trees when we were excavating the garden a couple of weeks ago. An elderly neighbour also told me she used to keep clothes in her microwave?! She sounds like quite a character!

As there wasn't a huge amount of rhubarb to use I baked a crumble and bulked it out with two eating apples. I also added a sprinkling of ginger and cinnamon since they pair well with rhubarb. The resulting crumble was incredibly tasty although perhaps a touch on the sweet side. I guessed the sugar quantity and underestimated how much sweetness the eating apples would add to the filling.

Lovely red filling! 

A few weeks ago I trimmed off more rhubarb with the intentions of making another crumble, but my Mum suggested a tart instead. After a raid of the fruit bowl I ended up making an apple, nectarine and rhubarb frangipane tart.

It was a very spur-of-the-moment decision to make a tart, so I used a roll of shop-bought shortcrust pastry from the freezer rather than make my own. Some may frown, but I am absolutely ok with the occasional baking shortcut, particularly when it comes to pastry... and custard powder. I have no shame.

Speaking of custard powder, this tart tasted even better the following day served with custard. Custard made from powder *and* shop bought pastry in one photo/pudding. Told you, no shame.

I definitely felt I achieved a better balance with the sweetness in this tart. I also liked the more fragrant, summery addition of vanilla and nectarine compared to my more autumnal flavoured crumble. My only disappointment with this tart was that it could have done with a few more minutes in the oven as I think there was a slightly underbaked bit of frangipane right next to the fruit layer. At least my pastry wasn't soggy. No soggy bottoms here!

On the whole though, as a spontaneous bake I was pretty pleased with my effort. It's also the first tart I've made in quite a few years. (Holy moly, last time was in 2012 if I don't count mini tarts I made in 2014. Seriously?!) Next time I'll have to be more organised and make my own pastry.

Rhubarb and apple crumble 
I recommend reducing the sugar quantity if you prefer a sharp rhubarb flavour.

fruit filling: 15oz (425g) red rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch chunks
3oz (85g)  caster sugar
2 eating apples, cored and chopped into similar sized chunks
sprinkling of ground cinnamon and ginger

crumble:
4oz (115g) butter (I use slightly salted)
6oz (175g) plain flour
2oz (55g) porridge oats
3oz (85g) soft brown sugar

Preheat oven to 190C/ Fan 170C/ Gas 5 and grease a pie dish with butter. Chop up the fruit for the filling and put into a saucepan along with the sugar and spices. Gently simmer on the hob for a few minutes until soft, but not pulpy. Pour the mixture into the pie dish.

For the crumble topping, rub together the butter and flour in a mixing bowl then mix in the porridge oats and sugar. Spoon the mixture on top of the fruit filling in the dish. Bake for 30 - 40 mins. Serve warm with custard or ice cream. Or both if you're feeling decadent!


Rhubarb, nectarine and apple frangipane tart.

fruit filling:
7oz (200g) rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch chunks
3 nectarines, chopped into similar sized chunks
2 eating apples, cored and chopped into similar sized chunks
a sprinkling of cinnamon (under 1/4tsp)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

one pack of ready roll shortcrust pastry (or make more own)

frangipane topping:
4oz (115g) caster sugar
4oz (115g) softened butter
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4oz (115g) ground almonds
1oz (28g) plain flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a handful on flaked almonds for the topping

Requires an 8 inch (20cm) tart/flan tin.

If you're making your own shortcrust pastry, prepare that first. If you're using shop-bought, roll it out big enough to cover the base and sides of the tin. Press it into the tin (using a left over scrap of pastry to push it into the grooves/sides of the tin) and prick the base with a fork. Cover with tin foil and weigh down with baking beans to stop the pastry from puffing up in the oven. I also leave the edges hanging over the tin and trim them back after the tart comes out the oven. 

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6, until you can see the pastry turning golden, then remove the foil and beans and put back in the oven for a further 2 minutes to help dry the pastry out. 

Whilst your pastry case is in the oven make the fruit filling. Chop all the fruit in similar sized chunks and put into a large saucepan along with the cinnamon and vanilla. Gently simmer on the hob for a few minutes until everything has softened. Leave to cool whilst you make the frangipane topping.

Turn the oven temperature down to 180C/Fan 160/Gas 4. For the frangipane, beat together the sugar and butter with a mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add in the ground almonds, flour and vanilla extract and mix until everything is fully combined.

Pour the cooled fruit filling in the base of the tart case, followed by the frangipane mixture, which may need a bit of coaxing over the fruit filling with a palette knife as it's a stiffer mixture. Make sure the frangipane fully covers the fruit filling. Sprinkle a handful of flaked almonds over the top. 

Bake in the oven for at around 35 minutes until golden on top and the frangipane is firm to touch. (I forgot to write down how long it was in the oven for, but it was definitely over 30 minutes so keep an eye on it after half an hour),  Serve warm, but not hot, or completely cool. Both are delicious. Cream, ice-cream or custard make lovely accompaniments.

caramelised apple and cinnamon cake

How on earth are we in September already?! Crazy. Anyway, here's a cake I made for my sister-in-law's birthday back in April. It has an autumnal feel so I guess it's appropriate that I'm sharing it later in the year. Sis-in-law is a fan of cream cheese icing so I generally plan my cake choices for her around that. After a flick through my recipe books I felt most tempted by the apple pie cake in Edd Kimber's first baking book, "The Boy Who Bakes."

I've actually baked that cake before for my brother's birthday years ago, but it is a *huuuuge* cake and the sponges involve some time consuming elements. To make things quicker and easier for myself I baked a standard victoria sponge cake but added some warming spice.

For the cinnamon cream cheese icing and caramelised apple topping and filling I followed the original recipe but scaled down the quantities. The overall flavour was tasty although from what I remember I thought I was a little heavy handed with the cinnamon in the sponges. I also slightly overbaked them which was annoying, especially since I was baking for someone else, but sometimes these things happen. Luckily the incredibly tasty cinnamon cream cheese icing and juicy, spiced apples provided enough moisture to stop it feeling like a sad, dry cake.

On the subject of cake, is anyone else watching the new Great British Bake Off series since it moved to Channel 4? Although the programme hasn't particularly changed, the absence of Mary Berry makes me sad. I also find Sandy Toksvig intensely annoying. Thoughts?

Sticky apple and cinnamon cake
Recipe adapted from Apple Pie Cake in "The Boy Who Bakes" by Edd Kimber
(I think this is what I did...)

cinnamon sponges:
I used the classic method of weighing out my softened butter/margarine, caster sugar and self-raising flour to the same weight as my eggs (each, not their combined total weight, if that makes sense.) I used 3 large eggs for this recipe which weighed around 6oz (about 170g?)
1tsp ground cinnamon (perhaps use less though, I'd go for 1/2 tsp)

cinnamon cream cheese icing:
75g softened butter
175g icing sugar
125g cream cheese (full fat)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

caramelised apples:
3 apples (I used Braeburn or Cox)
55g butter
55g light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180C/ Fan 160C. Grease two 18cm/7 inch round cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the cinnamon and flour and mix everything together until fully combined.

Divide the mixture between the cake tins and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for approx. 30 minutes until well risen, golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes, then beat in the cream cheese, vanilla extract and cinnamon.

For the caramelised apples core, quarter and slice into wedges. Add to a pan with the butter, sugar and ginger. Put the pan on the hob over a medium heat and cook until the apples have softened and are coated in caramel. Drain the apples and leave to cool but keep the caramel juice. Pour the juice back into the pan and cook again over a medium heat until it has reduced and thickened slightly.

To serve, spread half of the icing on top of one sponge along with a layer of apples and half of the caramel juice. Pop the other sponge on top and repeat. Enjoy!

apple, cinnamon and maple syrup cupcakes

....and fairy cakes. I couldn't decide which size to go for so I made both.

After seeing Sammie's maple syrup frosted apple cupcakes last week I immediately felt compelled to bake apple and maple syrup cupcakes, only I fancied pairing mine with cinnamon and a maple cream cheese icing. Other than that, the recipe is essentially the same, but Sammie's look way more photogenic. Haha! I intended to pipe my icing but there was a lot of air trapped in the piping bag which made the icing burst out the nozzle in a very uneven manner, so out came the palette knife to smooth everything over. I also didn't make enough icing which was a bit stupid. It's the flavour that counts, right?

It's hard to go wrong with apple, cinnamon and maple syrup; they're such classic, warm, autumnal flavours. The apples are grated into the mixture, rather than chopped, so the flavour is distributed evenly through the sponges. I don't think I need to elaborate much on the maple syrup cream cheese icing - it's very, very tasty.

Please don't be put off by my dull presentation, these are lovely, little cakes.

apple, cinnamon and maple syrup cupcakes

sponges:
6oz (175g) softened butter/margarine

6oz (175g) soft light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

7oz (200g) self raising flour

2 eating apples, grated (mine weighed about 5oz)

icing:
(this is enough to lightly cover 24 fairy cakes and a few cupcakes but I'd double, at least, if you want to pipe it on in swirls)
50g softened butter
100g cream cheese
125g icing sugar 
a few drops (or however much you fancy) of maple syrup

For cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. For fairy cakes preheat to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Fill your cupcake/bun trays with paper cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon followed by the flour and mix together until fully combined. Grate the apples and stir them into the mixture - you'll need to work quickly with the grater as apples brown quickly.

Spoon the mixture into the cake cases, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (12-15 minutes for fairy cakes as they're smaller) until well risen, golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, beat the butter until smooth then add the icing sugar. Once combined, add the cream cheese and the maple syrup and mix until the icing is light and fluffy. Feel free to adjust amounts to personal taste or if you want a different consistency. Spread the icing on top with a palette knife or pipe it on with a piping bag and nozzle.

festive bakes

It's that time of year again... when I become so disorganised that I lump all of my festive baking into one blog post on Christmas Eve. YAY!

Personally, I find it just isn't Christmas without gingerbread boobie angels and saucy santas. This year I made sure I scheduled in the time to make them as I didn't manage to make any last year and it just felt plain wrong. Their little faces fill me with so much joy! I baked a batch of these to take in to my local music group's Christmas party and they went down an absolute storm.

I also baked a batch of mankini-clad gingerbread men and some questionably styled Tory hipster gentlemen as part of an in joke for some friends. This is probably the height of my piping decoration skills.

The amount of sugar and butter I've gone through in the last couple of weeks is obscene! I can't remember how many bags of sugar were emptied for all the tablet I made but I definitely used up at least 6 packs of butter for shortbread. I have a large extended family so large quantities of foodie presents are needed to take around when visiting relatives over the festive period.

It's always worth the mammoth effort though as I love seeing everything all packaged up with my childish funky handmade labels.

As I had leftover cranberries from my cranberry orange muffins I decided to try the cranberry, apple and cinnamon cake from Hannah's blog, Honey & Dough. I more or less followed the recipe, substituting caster sugar for soft light brown sugar, a cooking apple instead of a granny smith, and added 1/2tsp of vanilla bean paste to the batter. I also mixed some whole cranberries into the batter as well as scattering on top. My cake took twice the length of time to bake, probably due to the amount of fruit I put in, about an hour.

I baked this as a pudding to take to a friend's house last weekend and it was so well received that my friend asked for the recipe and she bought the ingredients the following day so she could make one. Then I decided to bake another too! Needless to say, it's a very tasty cake.

And finally, I baked a couple of ginger syrup bundts. They're full of flavour, keep pretty well and the recipe is nice and simple... unless you're baking whilst really tired and forget to add an ingredient. Yup, I forgot to add baking powder to one of them. Oops! So I got to keep a flatter bundt for myself.

I've been meaning to make mincemeat pies as well but I think I've reached my limit. After baking most evenings for the last two weeks I must admit to feeling rather pooped. You never know though, I might muster up some energy to make some closer to new year.

But for now I'm probably going to put my feet up, drink a lot of tea and wish everybody a very merry Christmas!

Trying to photograph the tree? Ok, I'll sit here then.
Cheers, Bob.

apple and cinnamon cake

Spring has arrived! The sun has finally appeared, the daffodils are out.... so I've baked an Autumnal flavoured cake. I'm nothing if not contrary.

This is another one of my classic "use the almost out of date/leftover food" bakes. The fruit basket contained a large pile of wrinkled, questionable looking apples as I've been neglecting to snack on them lately, favouring mini KitKats instead. Oops. Nevermind, I made a cake from my sad fruit. Hurray for unhealthy eating habits. Although I could claim this is healthy as it contains apples, sultanas and dried cranberries. That's 3 of my 5 a day.

Speaking of eating sweet stuff and being healthy, last week the dentist told me that my teeth are in very good condition. YAY! Although she did say that my lower set of wisdom teeth have decided to grow in horizontally. It seems even my teeth are contrary buggers.

The only way to celebrate having healthy teeth is to eat more sweet stuff and this cake is a good way to start. I first baked this cake 3 years ago and I'm horrified that it has taken me so long to bake again.

It truly is a beauty of a cake. The squidgy, spiced apple filling is a real treat, as is the crisp, sugary crust. There's a really satisfying balance of textures and flavours so I definitely won't leave it 3 years before I bake it again.

Apple and Cinnamon cake

Recipe slightly adapted from Mary Berry's Baking Bible.

225g (8oz) margarine

225g (8oz) light muscovado sugar

3 large eggs

100g (4oz) chopped pecans

50g (2oz) sultanas

50g (2oz) dried cranberries

225g (8oz) self-raising flour

2 level teaspoons baking powder

400g (14oz) apples, peeled, cored and grated

1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon

To finish:

light muscovado sugar, for sprinkling

chopped walnuts, for sprinkling

icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160/Gas 4. Grease and line a 23cm (9in) deep round cake tin with baking parchment. Measure the margarine, sugar, eggs, chopped pecans, sultanas, dried cranberries, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat for about 2 minutes until thoroughly blended. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin then spread the grated apple and ground cinnamon in an even layer on top. Spoon the remaining cake mixture on top, level the surface then sprinkle generously with light muscovado sugar and walnuts.

Bake in the oven for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours until the cake is well risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

fruity apple and pecan... slice?

I'm finally back with a baking post! Look, I baked.... things.

It was meant to be an apple and date nutty slice, but I had no dates so I subbed them for a mixture of dried raisins and cranberries, and I cut the apples so chunky that it didn't particularly "slice". Perhaps not the finest way to return to cake blogging, but it used up some wrinkly apples and annoying leftovers.

I was aware that the amount of apples vastly outnumbered the other ingredients but decided not to change it. After all it's an *apple* slice. Perhaps I should have cut my apple chunks smaller, but I was worried I'd end up with a watery, cooked apple gloop if I chopped them too small. I also think it's more satisfying to come across decent sized chunks, it adds texture, and this traybake certainly has texture - fresh fruit, dried fruit *and* chopped nuts surrounded by a cinnamon-y, dark brown sugar sponge mixture. It's all going on.

Not my most beautiful bake, but it tasted really good. If you doubled up the cake mixture and baked it in a bigger tin you'd have a fantastic autumnal pudding. Mmmm, pass the custard.

Fruity apple and pecan slice

Adapted from Jane Pettigrew's "date and apple slice" in Traditional Teatime Recipes, a National Trust book.

4oz (100g) dark soft brown sugar 

1oz (25g) slightly salted butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

1 tbsp runny honey

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4oz (100g) self-raising flour, sifted
4oz (100g) mixed dried fruit - raisins, golden raisins, cranberries
3oz (75g) pecans, roughly chopped

1lb (450g) eating apples, cored and diced with the peel left on (I think I used 3 braeburns and 1 or 2 pink ladies)

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Grease and line a 7 x 11 inch (17.5 x 27.5cm) baking tray. Mix together the sugar, melted butter, egg, honey, cinnamon and flour until everything is fully combined. Stir in the dried fruit, pecans and apple chunks. Tip into the tray and press flat (don't worry about it completely filling your tray, it won't overspill.) Bake for 30-40 minutes until it is golden and firm to touch. Leave to cool in the tin and (attempt to) cut into slices once it's cold.

toffee apple pecan pudding

This is what I made for pudding on Christmas day. As we had our main family dinner on Christmas Eve with our traditional trifle I had free reign for pudding ideas on Christmas day. I've had this recipe tucked away for a year or two so I felt it was about time I tried it.

I thought a steamed/boiled pudding was a really good choice as it can be left to simmer away on the hob while you finish attending to/eating your Christmas dinner.

It's a very sweet pudding, toffee obviously being the predominant flavour, so you can make your mind up whether that's a good or bad thing. Personally, I always think it's good. As much as I love cheese, I will never understand people who pick the cheese and biscuit platter as a dessert at restaurants. Really, that's not a dessert!

I really liked the addition of apples to what is essentially a sticky toffee pudding. It added a freshness to an otherwise rich dessert. It was the perfect comforting pudding to tuck into at the end of Christmas day.

So what did you all make for Christmas? Do you tend to make the same thing or try a new pudding each year?

Toffee apple pecan pudding

A Mary Berry recipe. Copied down off the tv whilst watching one of the Great British Bake Off Masterclass episodes last year (I think.)

For the toffee sauce:

300ml pouring cream (I used double cream)

100g light muscovado sugar

75g softened butter

For the pudding:

A 2pt pudding basin, greased with butter

125g light muscovado sugar

125g softened butter

2 beaten eggs

125g self-raising flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large cooking apple - peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks

75g pecans, chopped

 Put all the toffee sauce ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for roughly 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Pour 1/2 the toffee sauce into the bottom of the greased pudding basin, followed by half of the chopped pecans.

In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and muscovado sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Add the vanilla extract and self-raising flour and mix until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped apple. Pour the pudding mixture into the pudding basin, on top of the sauce (mine went in as a big lump so don't worry if you can't smooth it out, it didn't seem to affect the finished pudding.) 

Cut out a disc from greaseproof paper and lay it on top of the basin. Lay out a large square of foil and fold a pleat in the centre (to allow steam to escape) and seal the foil around the basin. Fold a rectangular strip of foil to make a cradle for lifting the basin. Place a jam jar lid or a sideplate in the centre of a large saucepan/pot (must be taller than the pudding basin) and place the basin on top. Half fill the pot with boiling water and put the lid on. Leave to simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

When ready to serve, reheat the sauce with the remaining pecans and turn out the pudding on a large dish. The pudding easily serves four people.

apple, blackberry and almond crumble

Last week mum and I had a crumble craving. Embarrassingly, I could probably count the number of times I've made a crumble on one hand. They're so quick and easy to make, not to mention incredibly tasty and comforting, that I have no idea why I don't make them more often.

Probably because I would become morbidly obese if I allowed myself to make pudding every night.

But at least with crumble you get to fool yourself that it's nearly healthy. Look, it has *two* types of fruit!

Sweet, buttery crumble with tart blackberries and apples. What's not to like? I toyed with the idea of using cinnamon but went with almond instead. I liked the sweetness and extra texture it added to the crumble topping. 

Apologies for the shoddy night time photographs, the grainy quality is pretty horrific. No amount of brightness or contrast could help, but the crumble was too tasty not to share.

Apple, blackberry and almond crumble

I didn't particularly follow a recipe, but this is roughly what I did:

filling:

1 small packet of blackberries

5 or 6 small eating apples - peeled, cored and cut into chunks

demerara sugar for sprinkling over the fruit

crumble:

100g plain flour

100g butter, cubed plus extra for greasing the dish

100g demerara sugar

50g rolled oats

50g ground almonds

handful of flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180C/160 fan/Gas 4 and butter a small ovenproof dish. Cut up enough fruit to sufficiently fill your dish. Once you're happy with the amount, sprinkle demerara sugar on top. The amount you use will depend on personal taste or the type of fruit used. At this point you could choose to soften the apples by lightly simmering/stewing them in a pan with a small amount of water, but we were lazy and didn't so our apples were still a little bit crunchy (which I quite liked.)

To make the crumble topping, rub together the butter and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, oats and ground almonds. Sprinkle your crumble mixture on top of the fruit in the dish and scatter a handful of flaked almonds on top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for roughly 40 minutes until the crumble topping has browned. Serve warm with custard, cream or ice-cream. Personally, I'm a fan of Bird's custard :)

Tarte tatin

Tarte tatin and I almost didn't become friends.

I initially tried making the caramel for the base the way Mary Berry did on the Bake Off Masterclass on tv a couple of weeks ago, by boiling sugar and water. It burnt. Never try to make caramel as you're trying to make and serve your dinner. In frustration I dumped the hot pot in the sink.

Shards of caramel went EVERYWHERE.

I reverted back to the recipe in Mary Berry's Baking Bible but got confused making the caramel (again) as the demerara sugar wouldn't melt, but chucked it in the tin anyway. After chopping apples for what seemed like hours, I arranged them on top of the caramel (although I did my centre pattern the wrong way up, doh!)  and added the pastry before flinging it in the oven.

The pastry looked light golden after 20 minutes, as the recipe stated, so I turned it out.

Undercooked.

By this point I no longer cared and turned the tart back into the tin (potentially dangerous move) and baked it for another 20 minutes. Surprisingly, it turned out absolutely fine.

The reduced juices from the tart made a ridiculously tasty syrup to pour over the top. That alone would have tasted amazing with ice-cream.

The tart was sweet and sticky with a lovely tang of lemon running through it balancing the sweetness. I was relieved it tasted good although I was almost in too much of a huff to enjoy it. Does that happen to anyone else?

I actually think the flavours tasted better the following day (possibly because I was less angry?) The tart also sliced much cleaner cold.

Tarte Tatin
Recipe from Mary Berry's Baking Bible

For the pastry:
100g (4oz) self-raising flour
50g (2oz) diced butter
1 level tablespoon icing sugar
1 large egg yolk
scant tablespoon cold water

Measure the flour, butter and icing sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and enough water to bring the mixture together to a firm but not sticky dough. Knead lightly, wrap in clingfilm and chill for about 30 minutes.

For the topping:
900g (2lb) dessert apples. (I used Pink Lady)
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
75g (3oz) butter
75g (3oz) demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C?Gas 6. Peel (I didn't bother!), core and slice the apples and sprinkle with the lemon juice and rind (it stops the apples from browning). Measure the butter and sugar into a small pan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Pour into the base of a 23cm/9 in sandwich tin. Arrange a singer layer of the best apple slices in a circular pattern over the mixture. Cover with the remaining apple slices. Roll out the chilled dough onto a lightly floured surface and use to cover the apples (make it slightly bigger than your tin and tuck the edges down the sides). Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (mine actually took 40 minutes) until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.

Tip the juices from the tin into a small pan. Turn the tart out onto a plate, with the pastry on the bottom. Boil the juices to reduce to a syrupy caramel and pour over the apples.If there is very little juice (depending on your apples) add 2 tbsp demerara sugar, dissolved in the pan with the juices and cook until syrupy. Serve warm with cream, creme fraiche, yoghurt, ice-cream, or custard.
 

Bundt-alicious!

My baking is too bundt-alicious for ya babe! I'm sure that's what Beyonce wanted to sing about, rather than her curvacious behind.

 

As well as Mary Bee, I received a bundt tin for my birthday. I was very excited about using it and decided to try this apple bundt cake recipe from Dollybakes, who is unquestionably Queen of the bundts.

 

If you own a bundt tin I urge you to try this recipe. It is like a hug in cake form, packed full of warming winter spices and a deliciously sweet, sticky, maple glaze. It reminds me of a sticky gingerbread but with a lovely addition of apples. I'm tempted to use this cake for a sticky toffee pudding at Christmas this year instead of my usual date traybake. I think it would make a heavenly dessert served with a thick toffee sauce.

 

It's safe to say I'm a full blown bundt convert, I can easily see myself making more. There is something very appealing about its shape and size. It makes a statement without having to faff about with icing and decoration.  This bundt also cut beautifully which made it great for sharing.

I also baked two apple and blackberry mini loaves using my new loaf cases. They completely spilled over during baking as I don't own smaller loaf tins and put them on a flat tray unsupported. Bad idea.

Please don't be put off by their unappealing appearance as they tasted lovely, especially fresh from the oven as the crumble topping was extra crunchy, although it went a bit soggy after a day. I really liked the addition of orange zest too. The recipe can be found on BBC Good Food.

Apple and raspberry cake

This cake came out the oven looking beautiful, but when I came back to it half an hour later the whole cake had deflated, the sides had almost buckled under themselves. This puzzled me as I had given it an extra 15-20 minutes baking time. It definitely wasn't under baked.

Despite the flatter than expected appearance, the cake had a lovely flavour and looked perfectly presentable with a dusting of icing sugar. The apples and raspberries gave a summery, juicy flavour and the yoghurt added a lovely smoothness. Everybody thought it was delicious and very fresh. I just wish it wasn't so.... soggy.

Although the recipe does say that it's a super moist cake, I can't help but wonder whether there's too much liquid in this cake. Perhaps it depends on the apples as they can ooze a lot of liquid? I shouldn't complain too much though, it did taste great.

On a separate topic, I bought new summer shoes from Tesco today. Check out my classy combination of coral flowery shoes, turquoise elephant socks and dusky pink trousers.

Surely the weather will warm up again so I can wear these without socks? I'm not too bothered though, I do love my Topshop socks :)

Apple and raspberry cake

Recipe from Cakes Galore, p.47, byValerie Barrett

150g unsalted butter, chopped

200g caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (I use extract)

185g self-raising flour, sifted

185g vanilla-flavoured yoghurt (I used plain)

1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated

100g raspberries

Sifted icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm deep, round cake tin. Beat the sugar and butter together in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla essence. Add the flour, then the yoghurt, grated apple and raspberries and mix until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, or until golden and the centre of the cake springs back when lightly pressed (mine took an extra 15 minutes.) Leave in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Apple pie cake and sticky toffee cupcakes

Last week was my brother's birthday (my eldest brother was the week before) so I got to make another celebration cake! After showing him various recipes he decided on Edd Kimber's apple pie cake.

The sponge layers were light and packed with cinnamon flavour, but not in any ways overpowering. Sandwiched between the layers were cinnamon cream cheese icing (seriously tasty), caramelised apples and a drizzle of sticky syrup made from the apple juices. I think this was my tallest cake yet. It was huge! Huge and delicious.

Mmmmmm, look at that drizzly syrup!

As I want to support Edd Kimber with his first book I won't type out the recipe, but I can highly recommend it. I'd quite like to try all of his layer cakes as they look so impressive.

I also baked some sticky toffee cupcakes last week. These were iced in a mad rush so apologies for the lack of pretty decoration. I've made them before, for bonfire night last year, but they were so good I didn't get a chance to photograph them! They were just as tasty as before: a sticky date sponge with a dulche de leche butter icing (yes, it really does taste as good as it sounds!)

They may even be my favourite cupcake flavour to date (ooh I love a pun), or at least tie with nutella cupcakes, although I think I'm sliding into dodgy territory here, a bit like when Kate raised the difficult question, "if you could only have one type of cake for the rest of your life which would you choose?" It's so hard to pick an absolute favourite!

On a separate topic, I acquired some duck eggs this week. Can anybody recommend any recipes they'd be extra tasty in? I've never baked with them before so I'm quite excited.

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days, p.185

For the sponge:

180g (6 1/2oz) pitted and chopped dates

180ml (6 1/2fl oz) boiling water

80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened

150g (5 1/2oz) soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs

180g (6 1/2oz) plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence (use extract, it's better!)

For the frosting

160g (5 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened

500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar

50ml (1 3/4fl oz) whole milk

100g (3 1/2oz) tinned caramel/dulce de leche

12-16 dates, pitted and chopped, or small pieces of soft toffee to decorate

Place the chopped dates in a bowl, pour over the boiling water and leave to soak for approx. 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5, and line a muffin tin with cases. Using a hand held electric whisk or a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Break the eggs in one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing well on a medium speed after adding each egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add these dry ingredients in 3 batches to the egg and butter mix, then adjust the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the batter is smooth and even. Scrape around the sides and bottom of the bowl to pick up any ingredients that might not be mixed in, then beat again briefly to ensure everything is well encorporated. Next add the vanilla essence to the date mixture and mix this into the cake batter by hand, making sure the dates are evenly dispersed throughout the batter.

Fill each paper case up to two thirds full with the batter. Any remaining batter can be used to fill extra cases in a second muffin tin. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin and placing onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and icing sugar on a low speed until sandy in texture and no large lumps of butter remain. Still mixing on a low speed gradually add the milk and mix in well, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy. Finally add the tinned caramel, beating it in thoroughly to ensure the frosting is evenly mixed. Spoon generous amounts of the frosting onto each cupcakes, then gently smooth over with a palette knife making a swirl on top if you wish. Scatter over the chopped dates or toffee pieces if using. (I strongly advise halving the frosting quantity. I iced generously and still had loads left over!)