Over time I have come to accept that I am not a bright-eyed, blonde, bean pole with biologically impossible breasts and a wardrobe to die for. I am short, dark, have an 'unusual face' (yes, I have been told that), 'good child-bearing hips' (yes, I've been told that too) and as my little sister would say, 'the wardrobe of a hobo'. Still, there may be someone out there who finds the combination of 'good child-bearing hips' and the 'wardrobe of a hobo' to be everything they were looking for? Haha. Still, it's what I embrace and I know my cooking habits would not bring me anywhere near the blonde bean-pole dream, especially my most recent project...
The apple pie cake.
My dear friend Naomi (who I met on my wonderful art history course last summer) turned eighteen recently. I know... She's so young! I must admit that I felt spectacularly old (I'm only twenty...) when I attended her birthday party recently. That young thing and all of her friends were talking about university worries, the elation of leaving senior school and the dreaded A Level results day - I felt like I'd stepped in to a bizarre time machine. I am so old - my teenage years have vanished - I am half way through my degree - how did this happen?!
Anyway, my quarter-life-crisis can wait. Back to the cake. Ahh the cake... I wanted to make something special for the occasion and a generic victoria sponge or chocolate cake would not do. I wanted to branch out and challenge myself. Well, this cake certainly did that. It became my new monster.
A three tier cake. Light vanilla and apple sauce sponge. Apples stewed with cinnamon and nutmeg to separate the tiers. A caramel buttercream frosting to complete it.
This is all actually relatively simple to create. What matters is timing and organisation. There are a lot of things to manage at once - sponge, filling, icing (making caramel yourself is so challenging - impatience could get the better of you and make you burn it) and then of course there's stacking it all together. Did I mention this is hard to do when you have three pet cats lurking around the kitchen ready to thwart your efforts at any moment?
Oh, and travelling with it. That can be an issue. When I arrived at Naomi's home the poor thing had barely time to register my arrival as I crashed through the front door stressed over a cake where the top two tiers had slid off the base one with the icing all askew. Never mind, some readjustment got things back on track.
I think it's definitely something you'd enjoy the comfort of on a cold winter day (I'm thinking of any day in St Andrews to be honest... but especially when it gets horribly dark, cold and wet in winter). However, I was able to make it this summer because heat has still not reached England! Just rain and grey sky!
It's a good mixture of sweetness and spice - the stewed apples become almost caramelised, the frosting is just the right balance before being sickly and the sponge gives a warm kick. In terms of texture, the soft sponge (I think the apple sauce is what makes it so moist) is a great contrast with the slight crunch of the apple.
I refuse to let this be a one time creation. It will resurface at some point. I'll be going in to the third year of my degree in September so I'm sure there will be many opportunities for baking procrastination!
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