Mid year uni holidays. I had such grand plans for you. Days I was going to spend reading the classics (or at least a classic), cleaning out my pantry, sleeping, having coffee out, and most of all…cooking.
Instead the weeks were lost in a haze of work, clerkship applications, broken down cars, and more work. I object. Retrospectively. But however vehement my objection, it seems I can’t do a thing about it at this late stage.
Given the fact that I’ve been working over the break, I’m disappointed that I’ve ended up with an acute lack of funds.
Perhaps the holiday upgrade from You’ll Love Coles handwash (Fiona, Soft Hands) to Palmolive Antibacterial handwash wasn’t such a wise choice. Likewise the temporary switch from Homebrand Tasty cheese to Cracker Barrel.
And I guess it wasn’t all work and no play. I think a fair bit of cash was dropped on vino.
Last night I was confronted with the fallout from my reckless spending. What to make when my budget had hit rock bottom? Had to be something for which I already had all the ingredients. Bless you Stephanie Alexander for providing the answer.
APPLE & CINNAMON CAKE
Serves 8
60g butter, plus extra for greasing
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered and very finely sliced
2 teaspoons white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 free-range eggs
150g caster sugar
1 cup plain flour
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Melt butter in a large frying pan. Tip sliced apples into the melted butter and cook over medium-high heat, stirring and shaking, for 3 minutes. Tip apple into large bowl and leave to cool.
Mix sugar and cinnamon and set aside until needed.
Thoroughly grease a 20cm springform cake tin with extra butter. Tip in breadcrumbs, then turn and shake the tin until its base and side are well coated.
Beat eggs and caster sugar in an electric mixer until pale and thick. Sift flour over egg mixture and fold in lightly but thoroughly using a large metal spoon. Tip in apple and quickly fold in. It doesn’t matter if the apple is not thoroughly mixed – speed is more essential so as not to deflate the batter.
Tip batter into the prepared tin. Smooth the top and scatter over cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake tests clean when tested with a fine skewer. Leave to cool in tin a little before serving warm, or cool completely in tin and then serve.
Oh, my. That picture reminds me of my ma's cake, except without the caramel hers had. She used to pour runny cream over the top. It was a special after school treat, and when we used to smell it from the street we would start running!
ReplyDeleteCaramel?? Sounds heaven. And with all that apple it's totally healthy.
ReplyDeleteWell, yeah. The effect of the caramel, which is ordinarily bad for your teeth, is neutralised by the apples, which are good for them.
ReplyDelete