Читать книгу The British Baking Book - Regula Ysewijn - Страница 46

Dorset apple cake

49

For 6–8 people

For the cake

8 oz (225 g) Cox, Braeburn, or other red

apples, chopped

¾ cup (180 g) butter, at room

temperature

scant 1 cup (180 g) granulated

white sugar

2 eggs

¼ cup buttermilk or regular milk

1¾ cups (220 g) plain white flour

1 Tbsp (15 g) baking powder

butter, for greasing

flour, for dusting

For the custard

1 cup milk

1 cup cream with at least 40% fat

2 Tbsp (25 g) demerara (coarse raw

sugar)

1 blade of mace

1 fresh bay leaf

5 egg yolks

For an 8-inch square cake tin

Preheat your oven to 325°F and prepare the cake tin (see page 21).

Toss the apple pieces in some flour (this will prevent sinking during baking).

Beat the butter and granulated sugar together until light and creamy. Add the

eggs and make sure they are completely incorporated before adding the buttermilk

or milk.

Sift in the flour and mix well, then sift in the baking powder and mix well.

Fold the apple pieces through the batter and then spoon into the cake tin.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the custard, heat the milk and cream in a saucepan with the raw

sugar, mace, and bay leaf. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl. Discard the mace

and bay leaf, then pour a little of the warm milk onto the egg yolks and beat well;

this prepares the egg yolks for the warm mixture. Pour the rest of the milk onto

the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring with

a spatula, until it starts to thicken. Make sure the mixture doesn’t get too hot,

or you will end up with scrambled eggs. Pour the thickened custard into a jug.

Cover the jug with foil to prevent a skin from forming on the custard.

Serve the apple cake warm, cut into squares, and drizzle it with the hot or

cold custard.

The landscape of southwestern England has been marked by its many apple orchards for centuries. It is therefore

not surprising that Dorset is proud of its apple cake, which is eaten hot. Of course, you’ll find apple cakes all over

Great Britain, but there are regional differences. For example, there are no spices in the apple cakes from the South,

but the further north you go, the more spices and dried fruits make their way into the cake. Because we already have

a rich selection of cakes with lots of spices, I decided to make the Dorset apple cake here because simplicity can

sometimes be a relief between all the complex flavors.

This cake is usually baked in a tray and is less than 2 inches thick and very compact in structure. Cox apples are ideal

because of their fresh, sour taste, but you can use any red cooking apples.