Anyone with Nigella's Feast will probably recognise this recipe instantly, but I reckon I have improved it a little by intensifying the almond flavour and adding a bit of vanilla (everything else is the same). The mix is very eggy - 8 eggs! - and makes a slightly marzipan-like cake. It is absolutely delicious half an hour after it is out of the oven, when it exhales a puff of steam when you slice into its centre. I like it with some vanilla ice cream and my blueberry lavender coulis, which I haven't photographed since I was too lazy to make it on this occasion. I have however included a gratuitous picture of lavender, and posted the recipe below!
Damp Apple and Almond Cake
Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson
For the apple purée
3 tart eating apples, such as Braeburns
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons caster sugar
For the cake
Almond oil/flavourless vegetable oil to grease tin
8 eggs
325 g ground almonds
275 g caster sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon of almond extract
The seeds of one vanilla pod
80 g flaked almonds
To decorate icing sugar
Method
Peel, core and chop the apples roughly. Put them in a saucepan with the lemon juice, sugar vanilla seeds (scraped out) and pod, and bring the pan to a bubble over a medium heat. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until you can mash the apple to a rough purée with a wooden spoon or fork. If you caramelize it a little it adds a syrupy to the flavour but whether you are able to do this depends on how wet/dry your apples are. Remove the vanilla pod. You should have about 285 g of purée Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180 C; oil a 25 cm springform tin with the oil and line the bottom with baking parchment.
Put the cooled purée in the food processor with the eggs, ground almonds, almond extract, caster sugar and lemon juice and blitz to a purée.
Pour and scrape into the prepared tin, sprinkle the flaked almonds as evenly as possible on top and bake for about 45 minutes. It's worth checking after 35 minutes, as ovens do vary, and you might find it's cooked earlier - or indeed you may need to give it few minutes longer.
Put on a wire rack to cool slightly, the spring open. Push a teaspoon of icing sugar through a fine sieve to give a light dusting. If you'd like, by all means, mix in a pinch or so of ground cinnamon with the icing sugar before you sieve it onto the cake at the end.
Blueberry Lavender Coulis
250g blueberries
50g caster sugar
Your left over, scraped-out vanilla pod of half a teaspoon of essence
1 heaped teaspoon of dried lavender flowers
Put the blackberries and sugar into a small pan with 100ml/31⁄2fl oz water with the lavendar. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins until the fruit is soft. Stir in the vanilla, remove and cool a little
Tip the contents of the pan into a blender or food processor, and whizz to a purée, then strain through a fine sieve, rubbing it through with the back of a ladle or spoon. Serve warm or chilled.
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