Apple and olive oil cake

I've been lusting after the Ottolenghi Cookbook for a while and I finally got it for my birthday a few weeks ago. A weekend lusting after the cakes and beautiful salads ensued as I littered it with post-it notes for 'must try' recipes.

For those of you not familiar with the London restaurant, this book is all about big and beautiful salads, using ingredients in new and delicious ways as well as the most fabulous cakes and pastries - the best of both worlds then...(see this post for 101 Cookbook's take on Ottolenghi and another recipe). Yotam Ottolenghi also has a regular column in the Guardian on Saturday - Yotam Ottolenghi's inventive, modern vegetarian recipes.

Everyone who has this book has recommended the apple and olive oil cake so it was top of my to-do list. A light and airy cake packed full of apples, lemon zest and olive oil. The olive oil is not overpowering at all but adds a wonderful complex flavour. And, it just keeps getting better, the whole thing is sandwiched together with luscious maple syrup icing (I used golden syrup) - a delicious butterscotch take on the classic cream cheese icing.

This cake was devoured in a matter of days to a chorus of quiet 'mmms...' Need I say more?Make this cake and make it soon.

Ingredients

280g plain flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4tsp bicarbonate of soda
120ml olive oil
160g caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 Bramley apples, peeled cored and chopped into 1cm dice
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 egg whites

Icing
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g light muscavado sugar
85ml maple syrup (or golden syrup)
220g cream cheese, at room temperature

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
• Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil, vanilla and sugar (preferably with an electric whisk) together until voluminous and smooth. Next whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
• Stir in the apples and lemon zest and then the flour.
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold carefully into the cake batter.
• Grease and line two sandwich tins and bake for 45mins until a cake batter comes out clean.
• Once cooked, allow the cakes to cool completely before icing.
• To make the icing, beat together the butter and maple syrup and sugar until light and airy. Beat in the cream cheese until totally smooth.
• Use the icing to the sandwich the cakes and smooth the remaining on top.

Read more...

Apple and Walnut Cake

Fresh from the success of my oat and raisin cookies and still having a love affair with cinnamon scented baked goods, I came up with this cake. Really, I was also becoming accustomed to a little afternoon treat to perk me up and needed something to fill the cookie gap. While this cake is definitely going in my bag for tomorrow, I also had a sneaky piece tonight, warmed through in the oven with some ice cream. I imagine it would also be divine with a cloud of whipped cream dolloped on top.


This cake is dead easy to make, a simple batter made with oil (which incidentally makes it incredibly moist), with the apple chunks (I don't even bother to peel them) and chopped walnuts stirred in. I cooked it in a tray, but you could try it in a loaf tin or even a springform tin or try using some ground almonds instead of the walnuts.

Ingredients

125ml sunflower oil
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
225g plain flour
1tsp mixed spice
1tsp cinnamon
2tsp baking powder
250g apples (about 3 small ones), chopped into 1cm chunks
75g chopped walnuts

• Whisk the sunflower oil and sugar until completely combined.
• Whisk in the eggs one at a time.
• Stir in the flour, baking powder and spices.
• Add a little milk until the batter is of 'dropping consistency' (i.e. it drops off a spoon readily)
• Stir in the apples and walnuts.
• Spoon into a lined cake tin and bake at 180C for 30mins (times will depend on the type of tin used) until a skewer comes out clean.

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Breakfast Muffins

Well, winter has arrived, we're all wrapped up in coats, scarves and gloves have been dusted off, we even had snow! Of course, this means that in the vegetable box there are a lots and lots of carrots, onions and potatoes. This is no bad thing, I love carrots. The thing is, they seem to be going limp disappointingly quickly, which again isn't exactly a disaster, carrots roast up so well, especially in a soup, maybe with some lentils?

This time though, I decided carrot cake was the way to go, I started off with this carrot cake recipe intending to make muffins, but then as I started, I kind of got carried away, adding some plump juicy raisins, walnuts and oats for texture, a grated apple because, well, why not? So, what came out of the oven wasn't exactly carrot cake, but still delicious in a plainer sense, more something I can carry out the door with me in the morning to munch on on the tube, feeling a teeny bit healthy, well... all those oats, walnuts, carrots and apples!


Makes 12-15 muffins

250g sugar
200g flour
100g oats
1tsp salt
2tsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250ml oil
4 eggs
3 medium carrots, grated
1 apple, grated
100g walnuts, chopped
100g raisins

• Boil the kettle and cover the raisins with the hot water in a bowl.
• Meanwhile measure out the sugar, flour, oats, salt, cinnamon and soda in a large bowl.
• Add the oil and whisk well to combine.
• Crack the eggs in and whisk.
• Drain the water off the now plump raisins, add to the batter along with the carrots, apple and walnuts. Stir well.
• Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, bear in mind that the mixture doesn't rise an awful lot so you can fill the cases at least 2/3 full.
• Bake at 180C for about 20mins until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Read more...

Apple and Walnut Cake

In an attempt to broaden my cake horizons, I decided to make this cake. When it came out of the oven, I was a bit unconvinced, it looked a bit like one of those dry fruit cakes, a day later and its really come into its own. Hence I ate about 3 slices too many as an afternoon 'snack'.

I used pear, but only because we had lots left in the house. Obviously, apple is the natural choice.

Apple and Walnut Cake

150ml oil
200g sugar
2 eggs
350g flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½tsp bicarb
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp salt
450g apples, peeled and cut into small cubes
zest of 1 lemon
100g walnuts, chopped

Beat the oil and sugar until very thick and creamy, an electric whisk works best here. Whisk in the eggs in one at a time, fold in the flour, salt, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. Finally add the apples and walnuts. Bake in a greased and lined loaf tin at 180°C for 50mins. Read more...