Fresh apples make great fall desserts. This excerpt from The Kitchen Garden Cookbook (DK Publishing, 2011), gives you a cinnamon apple cake recipe that you can impress with at your next family gathering.
This dish is like a sweet version of the British classic toad-in-the-hole. It makes a large tray, and can be served warm as a dessert with custard or cream, or left to cool and served with coffee.
Cinnamon Apple Cake Recipe
Serves 8-12
Prep 30 mins
Cooking 25-30 mins
1/2 cup butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
3 large or 4 medium cooking apples, such as Granny Smith
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Grease a 9in (23cm) square baking pan with butter, dust with flour, and shake out the excess.
Peel, core, quarter, and slice the apples, and put in a bowl of water with lemon juice to prevent browning.
Whisk the eggs and 1 cup of the sugar until thick and pale, and the whisk leaves a trail when lifted out.
Put the butter, milk, and half-and-half in a sauce pan and heat gently until the butter melts, then bring to a boil. Take off the heat and allow to cool briefly, then gradually whisk into the egg mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder over the surface and fold in with a metal spoon or rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared pan.
Drain the apples well and arrange attractively on top of the batter. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and cooked through. Leave to cool in the pan, then cut into squares.
For more great recipes from The Kitchen Garden Cookbook see: Peach Melba Ice Cream Recipe.
This excerpt has been reprtinted with permission from The Kitchen Garden Cookbook, published by DK Publishing, 2011.