i am beginning our apple picking season with a cake.
i see i ended our season last year with a cake too!
it’s still a good thing.
the nights are cooler.. the days continue to be warm and breezy.
i love this delightful combination of in between seasons.
this cake is light and delicately apple flavoured.
its a simple cake, sprinkled with calvados, with dreamy layers of whipped cream,
tart apples and toasted hazelnuts.
the cake has to be made the day before, otherwise it is too delicate to slice.
you will need
for the cake..
butter for the cake tin
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of super fine sugar.. its called fruit sugar.. or you can put regular sugar in a food processor and whir 'til its finer.. not powdered though.
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
5 tablespoons of calvados.. an apple brandy
the original recipe called for 12.. it was too boozy for me.
for the filling..
5 apples, 500 ish grams.. a combination of our macs and gravensteins would be perfect!
2 1/2 cups of whipping cream
a titch of sugar.. 1 teaspoon? or not
1 cup of roasted hazlenuts chopped fine
to finish..
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts chopped fine, but save some bigger ones and halves too to garnish.
preheat your oven to 350° f.
line the bottom of a 10 inch round cake tin with parchment paper.
i used my spring form pan.
lightly butter the sides.
beat the eggs and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. they will turn pale and double or triple in volume.
sift the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture and gently fold it in.
pour this into your cake pan and bake for 30 ish minutes. (my oven took 45.)
check with a skewer to be sure.. it should come out clean from the centre of your cake.
don’t worry about putting holes in the top.. it will be covered up later.
let your cake cool on a wire rack completely before removing it from the pan.
let this sit overnight.
this is a good time to roast your hazelnuts, while the oven is on.
pour them on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
bake for about 15 minutes.. they will be fragrant and a nice toasted brown.
if you have bought them with the skins on, firmly rub the warm nuts between 2 tea towels to rub off the skins.
cut the cake in three horizontal layers. (this is the next day)
make the filling..
chop the cup of hazelnuts finely.
whip the cream til it’s fairly stiff.
peel and core the apples. grate them coarsely.
squeeze out a little of the juice if there’s a lot.
add the apples and nuts to the whipping cream.
to assemble..
put the base layer of cake on your serving plate and sprinkle with half of the calvados.
spread half of the whipped cream mixture evenly over this.
place the middle layer on top.
sprinkle with the remaining calvados and spread the rest of the whipping cream mixture evenly.
place the top cake layer on this.
dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with hazelnuts.
leave 30 minutes to settle before serving.
this keeps well for a few days!
you know we love our apple desserts for breakfast too.
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