plate 2 plate - apfel kuchen
It was my turn to choose the recipe for Plate 2 Plate and as it's now Autumn in Zurich where Juliana lives, I suggested making an apfel kuchen (or apple cake) to Juliana and she agreed.
I chose this apple cake recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller as I'd bookmarked it ages ago and just hadn't found the time to make it. I do have a similar apple cake in the archives but I'm always keen to try new recipes and this one intrigued me.
I made this apple cake when I was recently home in Brisbane. Topped with cream it's become one of my Dad's favourites. Juliana's cake is pictured above while mine is below.
The recipe contains no fancy ingredients, just apples, lemon, cinnamon, and the cornerstone of any baker's pantry - eggs, sugar, butter and flour. The autumnal images are courtesy of Juliana while the rest are mine.
Juliana prepping her apples.
Prepping, Jillian style.
The pastry is very easy to make in the food processor but it is soft. I'd go easy with the eggs and just add sufficient for the pastry to come together. I found the easiest way to line the tin with pastry is to cut it into 4 pieces - one piece for the base; another for the lid and 2 strips for the sides. The quantity of pastry is generous so you'll probably have a bit leftover for later.
Once baked, this a pretty rustic looking cake. The pastry is so short that little bits fall off but I think that adds to it's charm.
The cake is topped with a drizzle of apple flavoured icing, my favourite bit.
Just a note of warning, this cake is not particularly sweet so if you have a sweet tooth you may want to increase the sugar in the filling. Try using ½ cup of caster sugar rather than ⅓ cup suggested in the recipe, if you use tart green apples like I did.
Here's the recipe for you. I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.
Juliana and I shoot and style our images without any consultation and we couldn't believe how similar our cakes looked. Good enough to eat!
Apfel Kuchen, recipe by Brigitte Hafner
Filling
8 large Granny Smith or Cox’s orange pippin apples
Finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
Finely grated rind of ½ orange
75 gm caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125 gm pure icing sugar, sieved
Pastry
450 gm cold butter, cut into small cubes
250 gm (1⅓ cups) plain flour
250 gm (1⅓ cups) self-raising flour
80 gm caster sugar
2 eggs, whisked
Method
1. Peel, core and finely slice the apples, then place in a bowl with citrus rinds, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon, toss to combine and set aside to macerate (1 hour).
2. Meanwhile, for pastry, process butter, flours, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add egg and process until mixture just comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill (1 hour).
3. Preheat oven to 165°C. Roll two-thirds of pastry to just under 1cm-thick on a lightly floured surface and line the base and sides of a greased 28cm spring-form tin. Drain apples well (reserve liquid) and fill pastry case. Roll out remaining pastry, roll over the rolling pin and lift pastry over the apple. Press and crimp edges with your fingers to seal and then bake until deep golden brown (1 hour). Set aside in tin to cool for 10 minutes, then release sides of spring-form tin and set aside to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, place 1½ tbsp of reserved apple liquid in a bowl and gradually stir in icing sugar until a glaze consistency forms. Drizzle over cake and serve.
Brigitte suggests making this cake the day before you plan to serve it. The apple cake will keep for 4 days, if it lasts that long.
I've made the apple cake twice so far and tomorrow I'm planning to make another one so it's quickly become a favourite recipe. I hope you enjoy making it as well. Many thanks to Juliana for continuing to be my partner on Plate 2 Plate.
It's been a busy couple of days for me. I've just flown home to Sydney following a few days in Brisbane visiting my family, then Thursday I'm flying down to Melbourne to do some prop shopping and to attend a food photography seminar.
See you again next week.
Bye for now,
Jillian
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