Apple Cake with Earl Grey Apples

I don’t know exactly how it happened but somehow I ended up with three bags of apples in my refrigerator.  Luckily I have children that love apples and eat them as a staple.  Now who am I to complain if they want to keep the doctor away?

Although I also like nibbling on these crunchy lovelies, woman can’t live of fruit alone… That is why I was quite exited when I stumbled onto this recipe in an old Ideas Magazine’s little extra booklet.  This  is definitely one of my favourites I have ever made and I am therefore dying to show it off to all of you!

The cake is beautifully moist with little pieces of apple every here and there and  of-course the must-have cinnamon adds a lovely homely feel to it.  The cherry on …. or rather the apple on the cake, and show-stopper, is definitely the delicate, citrussy, Earl -Grey-Apples.  Trust me this is heaven on a plate!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of soft butter
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 3 extra large eggs
• 10 ml grated lemon zest
• 1t vanilla essence
• 1 cup natural low-fat yoghurt
• one Granny Smith apple peeled and diced
• 260 g cake flour
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t bicarbonate of soda
• 5 ml baking powder
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170° c
2. Grease and line a 20 cm round cake tin.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until light   and fluffy
4. Add the lemon zest and vanilla
5. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until mixture is light and fluffy
6. Add the yoghurt and beat very slowly to mix in
7. Stir in the apple
8. Sift together all dry ingredients and fold into the butter mixture.
9. Spoon into cake tin and bake for 50 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean
10. Cool down and decorate with glace icing and Earl Grey apples

Glace Icing:

• 1 cup of icing sugar
• a little water
• zest of the rest of the lemon

1. Just add enough water to get a runny consistency and pour over the cake.
2. Top with lemon zest

Earl Grey Apples:

• 1 1/2 cup of water
• 4 Earl Grey teabags
• 250 ml castor sugar
• 2 Pink Lady apples

1. Bring water to a simmer together with the teabags for  5 minutes.
2. Remove tea bags
3. Add sugar
4. Simmer for 10 minutes until reduced and a syrup has formed
5. Cut the apples into thin slices and place in syrup, remove from stove
6. Leave for at least 1/2 an hour
7. Place onto cake just before serving

Enjoy with your favourite cup of tea.