We are firmly into Autumn now, and while I can’t say that I am enjoying the sudden drop in temperature and the persistent rain, it is not all bad I suppose. Autumn does bring with it some of the best foods – pumpkins, apples, pears and plums to name a few; it is my favourite time of year for baking, and I do like drinking lots of hot drinks and wearing cosy jumpers. (Although I do have a penchant for a somewhat post-apocalyptic style which means that all of my jumpers have THE MOST impracticable sleeves…). Oh, and it is also my favourite holiday – Halloween
When Appletiser asked me to come up with a recipe based around the theme of baking with apples I dithered for a long time over what to make. When it comes to apples there are just so many delicious choices! In the end I settled on an apple bundt cake with spiced caramel sauce as I absolutely adore apple cake.
This is a simple cake, but is utterly delicious, incredibly moreish and so full of flavour. It very soft and moist, due to the yogurt, applesauce and oil in the batter; it has a wonderful lightly spiced flavour and is full of chunks of juicy apple. I topped it with a luscious, totally addictive spiced caramel sauce. I ate rather a lot of it just on it’s own with a spoon, it is THAT good.
To make the spiced caramel I infused double cream with whole spices then made caramel with the infused cream as usual. The spiced flavour is mild, but delicious; for a stronger flavour you could simply leave the cream to infuse for longer, or add in a bit of ground spices once you have made the sauce.
This is the kind of cake that is delicious both hot or cold, served simply as is with a glass of Appletiser or a cup of tea, or warmed up for pudding with custard or cream. It keeps well in an airtight container and is so moreish that I simply can’t resist cutting a slither off every time I go into the kitchen
Ingredients
Apple Bundt Cake:
380 g (3 cups + 1 Tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
120 g (1/2 cup) low fat Greek yogurt
200 ml (1/2 + 1/3 cup) sunflower oil
100 g (3.5 oz) unsweetened applesauce shop bought or recipe below (or use another 100ml oil instead)
250 g (1 + 1/3 cup) light brown soft sugar
100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium eating apples such as Braeburn peeled, cored and diced
Spiced Caramel Sauce:
200 ml (1/2 + 1/3 cup) double (heavy) cream
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2 cardamom pods bruised
3 cloves
3 allspice
5 peppercorns
150 g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
2 Tbsp water
15 g (1 Tbsp) butter
pinch salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3. Thoroughly grease a 10 cup/2.4 litre bundt tin; dust with flour and tap out the excess.
Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a large bowl. In a separate jug, whisk together the yogurt, oil, applesauce, sugars, eggs and vanilla extract until well combined.
Gradually stir the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth then fold in the apples. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for 60-75 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. You may need to loosely cover the top with tin foil towards the end of baking in order to stop it from catching.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin placed on a wire rack .then carefully turn it out.
While the cake is cooling make the spiced caramel. Place the cream and spices in a small pan and heat until simmering. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside to infuse for half an hour.
Place the sugar and water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring to the boil and cook, swirling the pan, NOT stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the colour changes to amber. Remove from the heat and immediately pour in the cream and spices - be careful as the caramel will bubble ferociously and rise up in the pan. When the bubbling stops, add the butter and stir until melted.
Return the pan to a low heat and cook whilst stirring continuously for a couple of minutes until smooth. Add a generous pinch of salt then pour the caramel through a sieve into a jug to remove the spices (or just leave them in if you prefer.).
Allow the caramel to cool until thickened slightly then pour it over the top of the cake and serve. The caramel can be made a couple of days in advance and stored in the fridge if required; simply gently re-warm it until it melts before serving. Store the cake in an airtight container and eat within 4 days.
Recipe Notes
(To make unsweetened applesauce, peel, core and dice one large Bramley apple and place in a pan with ½ Tbsp water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cook, stirring often, until the apple is soft then use a stick blender to puree it until smooth (or place it in a blender to puree). Allow to cool before using.)
No comments:
Post a Comment