Tuesday 30 October 2018

Toffee apple cake

I recently helped make a friend make toffee apples (yes, they turned out well - toffee that was very crisp and pleasingly "snap-ful" - although not quite the scarlet red orb that had been desired) and this obviously made me think about a toffee apple cake.

I remembered that during GBBO17, Prue tried Kate's toffee apple cake and declared it the "best cake I've ever had". Now normally, I'd work out my own "ultimate" recipe, but given this intel, I broke with precedent and simply followed the recipe (once I found it online). Having said that, I did make one tweak, which was to replace the internal toffee apples with an apple compote care of Michel Roux.


The cakes turned out pretty well. It's very interesting technique based on a sticky toffee pudding. Very tasty but they did seem a little dry (based on the trimmings from levelling them). And sticky toffee pudding usually comes with lashing of toffee sauce (and cream!). The combination of these factors prompted me to use the compote.



This is the cake equivalent of a warm hug on an autumnal evening in front of the fire, whilst leaves blow outside and drizzle patters against the windows.

The cake is incredibly satisfying and rounded, if you get a bit of everything in one go - the icing, the cake and the apple compote. The spices are gentle and warming. The icing is good and light, I'd prefer a bit more of a toffee hit. Also you don't get hit round the face with apple, but you know it's there providing background depth and sweetness.  Although the apple balls on top didn't quite turn out right, they added a great sharp contrast.


Next time to make it an even more cosy night in, I think I would:
  • Try and get the toffee right for the decorative apple balls
  • (At least) double the amount of apple rings
  • Use a calvados and honey syrup on the cakes

Saturday 6 October 2018

BFG - not Dahl's giant but a Black Forest Gateaux

I think I spend too much time working at the minute (the 1h45 commute each way may be a factor too) which means I spend less time cooking and baking and have even less time to blog when I do.

I did a German evening tonight which was borne out of an aborted trip to the Black Forest to find the ultimate black forest gateaux. I don't have any photos of any courses but the BFG. Mind you the menu did seem to go down quite well:

Sharing pretzel with cheese and beer dip and a mustard dip
***
Rouladen with home-made sauerkraut and spaetzle
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BFG


The cake turned out pretty well. I think the best comment was "this reminds me of the cakes of my childhood".

It was very satisfying combination of chocolate, cherry and cream. Amazingly my guests didn't take any home, so I was left eating a slice a day for the next week. Tough gig.

It was incredibly difficult trying to get hold of the right cherries. I wanted morello cherries but could not find them for love nor money. Fortunately, Waitrose came to the rescue where Aldi and Lidl had failed.

The cakes (care of the ever-reliable Felicity) were soaked with a combination of kirsch and the syrup from the cherries. Then a thick layer of rich dark cherry jam was added. Next was Chantilly cream spiked with the kirsch/syrup. I put nearly a whole jar of cherries on top of the cream before the next chocolate sponge layer. Repeat again. The third and final layer of cake was covered with a thick ganache and crowned with glace morello cherries
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