< Kitchen
< Winter Warmers

Chicken Stock
Pancakes
Cranachan
Hedgehog Cake
Speculaas Biscuits
Austrian Apple Cake
Plum Squares
Apple and Sausage Loaf
Orange and Walnut Loaf
Pumpkin Pie
Beef and Guinness Casserole
Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Soda Bread
Pumpkin and Orange Muffins
Quince Vodka
Mash O’ Nine Sorts
Pork Sausages with Beans
Posh Polenta Pancakes
Basic Muffins
Dainty Toasties
Awesome American Pancakes
Orange and Rhubarb Crumble

Austrian Apple Cake

This apple cake fills the kitchen with delicious yeasty smells that the kids love. Make life simple by using a bread machine for the dough.

For the dough:
350g strong white flour
½ tsp salt
50g caster sugar
Half sachet easy-blend yeast (3½g)
2 eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
Zest of small lemon
Pinch ground nutmeg (or a grating of fresh)
125ml milk

For the apple topping:
2 big apples
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
Pinch ground nutmeg (or a grating of fresh)
2 tbsp Demerara sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flaked almonds

For the icing:
75g icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Grease and line a baking tray 30 by 20cm.

To make the dough: put all the dough ingredients into a bread machine on the ‘pizza dough’ setting. When ready, push the dough into the baking tray, stretching and pressing down as necessary. Leave to prove for 20 mins.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C, Gas Mark 6. Peel and core the apples and chop them finely. Put to one side.

When the dough is proved, make the topping. Beat the egg and milk together, and add the nutmeg. Spoon the egg mixture evenly over the dough. Pile the chopped apples on top, then mix the sugar and cinnamon together and spoon over. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Cook for 15 mins, then turn down the oven temperature to 180 degrees C, Gas Mark 4, and cook for a further 15 to 20 mins, until the dough is browned and puffy at the edges.

To make the icing, sieve the icing sugar and add the lemon juice, stirring well to get a smooth consistency. Drizzle over the cake while still hot. Leave for a few minutes, then cut into slices. The cake is delicious eaten while slightly warm and still gooey.