apples | LOIS & ME

This recipe contains only a small amount of flour, so you can easily sub in some gluten-free flour to make a gluten-free cake if that’s what you’re into; it’s already dairy-free just the way it is. Lois suggests baking the cake in two tins and then sandwiching the thin layers with some whipped cream, which sounds like a bloody excellent idea to me.

Apple & almond cake (Lois Daish, Good Food, p. 114)

3 free-range eggs

150g caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar; I keep a vanilla pod in a jar of caster sugar to gently infuse it)

50g flour (can use a gluten-free flour here)

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

170g ground almonds

2 apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla (I used vanilla paste)

1 tablespoon sugar, for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 160˚C and line a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin with baking paper. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mixture turns light in colour and thickens. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds and then fold this mixture into the eggs. Stir in the chopped apples and vanilla. Scrape mixture into tin, smooth the top, sprinkle with the tablespoon of sugar and bake for 35 minutes until browned on top and firm to touch.

Note: I baked this cake using a conventional oven and when I checked it after 30 minutes the cake was still pale on top, so I turned the oven to fan bake and left the cake for another 5-7 minutes.

Lois’ apple flapjack is like a bowl of stewed apples topped with Anzac biscuit topping. A dream pudding in my book (a dream breakfast, too). Next time I make this I’m going to up the Anzac factor by adding long thread coconut and an extra tablespoon of golden syrup (and not add any sugar to the apples).

Apple flapjack (Lois Daish, Listener, June 4 2005)

Topping:

80g butter (if using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the dry ingredients)

1 heaped tablespoon golden syrup

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup standard flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

Filling:

5 large cooking apples

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 170°C. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a medium-sized pan. Once melted, add the dry ingredients and stir to mix. Peel, core and slice the apples. Place into a large baking dish. Sprinkle with water and sugar. Spoon the topping over the apples and bake for about an hour until the apples are tender and the topping is crisp. It goes without saying that this is heavenly with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of thick Greek yoghurt.