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GERMAN APPLE CAKE

05 Wednesday Feb 2025

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Apfelkuchen Recipe

Apple cake is very popular in Germany and this is my variation on the celebrity chef Rick Stein’s classic Apfelkuchen from his “Long Weekends” series.

This yummy cake has a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping. Use any dessert apples you wish except for Bramleys as they ‘fall’ and do not keep their shape once cooked.

I have swapped out plain flour for gluten-free plain flour, golden granulated sugar for vanilla sugar and butter for Flora buttery spread.

The Apfelkuchen is nut-free, pregnancy-friendly and vegetarian making it suitable for most diets. It stays lovely and moist for a few days if kept in an airtight container – but it is so yummy it probably won’t last that long!

Ingredients

  • 2 dessert apples peeled, cored and sliced into thin wedges
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 125g (41/2 oz) Flora buttery, plus extra for greasing
  • 140g/5 oz vanilla caster sugar
  • 3 free-range eggs, at room temperature, beaten
  • 225g/8 oz plain gluten-free flour
  • 2 level tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 5 tbsp full-fat milk

For the topping

  • 11/2 tbsp demerara sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/340F/Gas 3. Butter and line a 23cm/9″ round cake tin with greaseproof baking paper.
  2. Coat the apple wedges in the lemon juice and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar, using an electric hand mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Slowly add the milk, mixing well after each addition until you have a smooth batter.
  4. Transfer the cake batter to the cake tin. Arrange the apple slices, flat-side down, on the batter in a spiral pattern. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect.
  5. For the topping, mix together the demerara sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the batter.
  6. Bake in the centre of the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and the top is golden-brown. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the cake and turn it out of the tin onto a wire rack to cool completely (if wished).
  7. Serve this cake warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

Chef’s tips

If you prefer to use butter in this recipe, make sure it is softened before combining it with the sugar.

This cake is delicious warm or cold and makes a wonderful pudding. You can also serve it with vanilla custard, creme fraiche, clotted cream or even a dollop of vanilla ice cream (my personal favourite with warm puddings), whatever floats your boat!

Here is my step-by-step video on YouTube:-

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COCONUT & LEMON FAIRY CAKES

26 Friday Jul 2024

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Fairy cakes, little treats baked in paper cases and decorated perhaps with buttercream or glace icing and sugar flowers or sprinkles, are perfect for either a tea party or children’s party. They are really very similar to cupcakes, though a bit smaller and perfect for little fingers and a not-too-sinful indulgence for grown-ups too!

This is my go-to recipe for fairy cakes and if the kids are bored on a cold and rainy day, it is an activity they can be involved in too and which I can guarantee they will enjoy. These cakes are made with one whole free-range egg, a few tablespoons of whole milk and a few basic store-cupboard ingredients. I am using gluten-free all-purpose flour and a teaspoon of baking powder but please swap for regular all-purpose flour.

Ingredients (makes 8):-

For the cakes

  • 85 g soft butter or baking spread
  • 85 g caster sugar
  • 1 large free-range egg, beaten
  • 65 g gluten-free all purpose flour
  • 20 g coconut flour (or dessicated coconut finely whizzed in the food processor)
  • 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3-4 tbsp whole milk
  • Grated zest of one unwaxed lemon

For the glace icing

  • Icing (powdered) sugar
  • Lemon juice
  • Water
  • Sprinkles or other sugar decorations of your choice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Place the butter or baking spread and caster sugar in a large bowl and either beat with an electric whisk or cream with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.

3. Add a little of the beaten egg to the mixture and beat until fully combined. Sift in some of the flours and baking powder and beat, to prevent any curdling. Repeat with the remainder of the beaten egg and the flours and baking powder until everything is well-combined.

4. Carefully add 3-4 tablespoons of whole milk and stir into the cake batter slowly with a spatula until fully combined.

5. Add the grated lemon zest and the vanilla extract, carefully stirring until fully combined.

6. Place 8 standard cupcake cases in a 12-hole cupcake tin and divide the cake batter equally between them. Shake the tin to level out and place in the centre of the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes (oven temperatures vary). The cakes are ready when a skewer inserted comes out clean.

7. Remove the cakes from the oven and set the tin aside for 10 minutes or so and then remove the cakes from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

8. Meanwhile, make the glace icing. Sieve some icing sugar into a bowl with a squeeze of lemon juice and a few drops of filtered water and mix well with a tablespoon to a smooth consistency. You want it so you can trace a figure of eight in the bowl of icing when you hold the spoon above it. If the icing is too thick, add a little more liquid a few drops at a time. If the icing is too thick, add a little more sieved icing sugar.

9. Carefully spoon some icing sugar over the top of each fairy cake and decorate with sprinkles or other sugar decoration of your choice, such as sugared flowers, candied lemon zest, jelly beans or other dainty candies.

10. Place the fairy cakes on a platter and allow to the icing to set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so and then either transfer to the tea table or a cake tin to store if they are not being eaten immediately.

Cook’s notes:

1. If you like your cakes a little more generous, use a 6-hole cake tin and larger cupcake cases and divide the mixture between them. Allow up to 20 minutes baking time accordingly.

2. If your oven temperature tends to be hotter, try baking the cakes at 170C/150C fan/325F/Gas Mark 3 or whatever you find usually works for you.

3. These cakes can also be decorated with lemon or vanilla buttercream frosting and sugar decorations, or alternatively do them as old-fashioned butterfly cakes.

Bon appetit!

Catherine