{"id":14625,"date":"2016-09-13T08:36:54","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T08:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=14625"},"modified":"2016-09-28T09:43:31","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T09:43:31","slug":"autumn-apple-cake-german-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/autumn-apple-cake-german-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Autumn Apple Cake – German Style"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Taken<\/a>
Taken this very morning at the crack of dawn…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It may well reach temperatures of over 31\u00baC\u00a0today, but Autumn is just about here… \u00a0The mornings are much much cooler, and the days tend to start with fields full of mist at the back of the house. \u00a0 The evenings are definitely drawing in, plus there are spiders and daddy-longlegs in abundance… \u00a0But, I LOVE this time of year, it has to be my absolute favourite, and what with the usual harvest celebrations, bierfests<\/a>, pumpkin festivals<\/a> etc. – there’s plenty to enjoy about a Bavarian Autumn…<\/p>\n

\"apple<\/a><\/p>\n

This Spring our apple tree was covered in pink blossom and promised a good harvest for later in the year. \u00a0It wasn’t joking. \u00a0The poor thing has the most apples I have ever seen in all the time we have been here. \u00a0It’s so laden that after a weekend away recently, we came back to find one of the large branches had snapped clean off thanks to the weight – just call me a tree neglector. \u00a0 Anyway, since then, we have huge plans for the remainder of the fruit, which include apple butter, going halves with a friend and her pear harvest and getting a load of fruit juiced by a local farmer, and then I am definitely making this cake on a weekly basis until every last apple has gone…<\/p>\n

\"might<\/a>
Viktualienmarkt Apples – I have so many, I might set up on my own stall…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now I am not going to lie, this is not the the easiest cake to make in the world… \u00a0It’s good however for imagining yourself on an episode of Bake Off \u00a0– except with the baby about to wake up from his nap as a countdown, and nobody looming over you as you bake (incidentally, I was shocked at how many fellow Brits hadn’t ever heard of a dampfnudel before on the last episode. \u00a0Listen up people, if you’re coming over here for the millions of German Christmas Markets, and you go home without having tried a dampfnudel (with eggnog custard, that’s the best!) then you just haven’t done a German Christmas market properly – I love them so much I have written about them elsewhere on the internet<\/a>!)… \u00a0 There’s a lot to do as there’s pastry to make, and custard to cook, and if you can’t find the blinking apple corer anywhere in the entirety of your kitchen, apples to peel and core by hand without slicing your fingers off. \u00a0But, I promise you, it’s absolutely worth it, and there aren’t many times in your cake eating life that you can actually say that you ate two whole apples in one slice (if you cut the slices big enough obviously)!…<\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/em><\/p>\n

200g plain flour;<\/em>
\n 1 tsp baking powder;<\/em>
\n 5 tbsp caster sugar;<\/em>
\n 1tsp vanilla extract;<\/em>
\n2tsp ground cinnamon;<\/em>
\n 1 pinch of salt,<\/em>
\n 1 large egg,<\/em>
\n 100g salted butter;<\/em><\/p>\n

For the Filling:<\/p>\n

8 small tart apples peeled and cored,<\/em>
\n Juice of 1 lemon,<\/em>
\nCustard powder (not the instant kind);<\/em>
\n 3 tbsp sugar;<\/em>
\n 750ML single cream;<\/em>
\n a good sprinkling of sliced almonds<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 24 cm spring-form tin; Start with the pastry by sifting flour, baking powder into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, egg, salt and butter and bring together with a dough hook. \u00a0Cut the dough into two halves (with one slightly bigger than the other), put the bigger half in the fridge for later, and use the smaller half to line the base of the tin – having greased the whole thing first of course. \u00a0 \u00a0Stab it gently with a fork a few times and bake for 15 minutes. \u00a0Leave to cool, but leave the oven on. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Roll the remaining pastry into a long strip to form the edge of the cake, and line the tin with it, pressing it gently to help join it to the base and patching up any small gaps as you go along. \u00a0Put the whole thing back in the fridge while you get on with the rest…<\/em><\/p>\n

Peel and core your apples, place in a bowl and squeeze the lemon juice over them to stop them from going brown. Now for the custard – mix 4 tbsps of custard powder with 200ML of the cream, stir in the sugar and put to one side. \u00a0 Bring the remaining 550ML cream to the boil, stirring constantly. \u00a0 Add the custard mixture, whisk through, and brink to the boil again, then set to one side to cool down for a while. \u00a0 Peel and core the apples, and squeeze the lemon over the fruit to stop it from going brown… \u00a0 Arrange the apples on the pastry base, and pour in the custard (a warning – if your custard is still too hot, the pastry sides will collapse straight away and you might cry!)… \u00a0Add the almonds to the top, and bake for one hour and ten minutes…<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Apfel<\/a>
Apfel Kuchen Extraordinaire…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With thanks to the German Grannies<\/a>\u00a0that came up with this recipe, and that I amended ever so slightly.<\/p>\n

Enjoy…<\/p>\n

\"German<\/a><\/p>\n

AND… \u00a0Just in case you are as addicted to Autumn as I am, check out these fabulous fall posts from fellow Autumn Addicts…<\/p>\n

Autumn happens to be one of my favourite food seasons all round too, from foraged food from the hedgerows (and neighbours trees!) to very seasonal pumpkin dishes. \u00a0 \u00a0Check out Foraging for Beginners<\/a> from Mummy from the Heart, and Bug Bird Bee’s foraged Yellow Plum Chutney <\/a>sounds gorgeous. \u00a0 Cat from Yellow Days has a beautiful Roasted Butternut and Sage Soup<\/a> to sample, I love the sound of these sticky toffee apple breadsticks<\/a> from Mummy Mishaps, whilst for pud how about these Easy Baked Apples<\/a> from The Mummysphere…<\/p>\n

If you are looking for some Autumn crafts for tiny people how about Pink Oddy’s very sweet tiny painted hedehogs<\/a>? \u00a0 While you still have the paint out head over to Romanian Mum for a Handpainting Tree Craft<\/a>. \u00a0 Not so much into paint? \u00a0These Autumn Hama Bead Tea Light Holders<\/a> from JennifersLittleWorld are perfect to keep little fingers busy… \u00a0And finally, because it’s almost that time – here are some great Halloween Safety Tips<\/a> from Mummy Alarm…<\/p>\n

Share me:<\/h3>