Apple and Almond Paste Cake

Hello people,

I am sorry for the short Christmas break, even my mum asked me why I didn't blog these days. I was here, but had many things swirling in my head and to do.
But I'm back with a recipe, I baked so much these days!



Where did I find the recipe for this soft, fruity cake?
I opened my favorite cookbook! Leila Lindholm's "A Piece of Cake".
I found a recipe for Apple and Almond paste Rings.
I haven't got any ring mould, but that's ok, no ring for us, just a normal yummy cake.

Ingredients.
(Adapted from Leila Lindholm's "A Piece of Cake")

Yields: 2 cakes (I used one half of the recipe)

For the dough:

• 1 tbsp black cardamom seeds, crushed (I used fennel)
  
• 300 ml milk
• 50 g fresh yeast
• 120 g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 150 g butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 660-720 g all-purpose flour

For the filling:

• 200 g butter, softened
• 80 g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 200 g almond paste (see recipe for this below).
  
• 2 apples

For the topping:

• 1 egg
• flaked almonds

How can I make almond paste? You'd never thik I'd be so easy!!
(for 500g)
250 g almonds
225 g sugar

Boil the almonds for 5 minutes.
Blend the almonds until they're reduced to powder.
Add the sugar and mix for 5-7 minutes until a thick paste is formed.

Directions.


Crumble the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Add the crushed cardamom (I used fennel) , sugar, salt, butter and egg.
Slowly add the flour and mix until a soft dough is formed.
Cover with a dishcloth and allow to rise for 45-60 minutes until it has doubled.
(This is the dough for the classic swedish sweet bread (yummy!) )

In another bowl mix butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and almond paste until it's creamy.
Divide the dough in two parts. Flatten one part with a rolling pin to form a disk that can easily cover the baking pan.
Butter tha baking pan and lay the dough disk in it.
Fill with the filling.
Rasp the apples and spred one apple in each baking pan.
Roll out the other dough disk (like the other one) and lay it on the cake.
Fold the dough endings.
Allow to rise for one hour.
Preheat the oven at 175°C (350 F).
Spread the whisked egg on the cake and add the flaked almonds (I forgot).
Bake for 20 minutes.
Allow to cook before pulling the cake out of the baking pan.


I can assure you it's a success. Especially with the cute Christmas tree Roberto cut out of the remaining dough.

Have a nice evening you all,
what did you bake for Christmas?

Juliette

Torta di Mele - Apple Cake

If there's one thing I understood reading something like 50 food blogs is that an Apple Cake is different than an Apple Pie. Unfortunately in Italian there's only one way of saying it, so they usually call the Apple Pie with its English name, explaining what it is afterwards.



Apple Cake

700 gr (25 oz) Apples (the most juicy onec, I used rennet, but I would recommend Granny Smith too)
200 gr (7 oz) self-rising Flour
200 gr (7 0z) granulated sugar
100 gr (3,5 oz) Butter melted, unsalted
200 ml (1/2 cup) Milk
2 Eggs
1 Lemon (zest and juice)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla Extract
a pinch of Salt


In a large bowl combine eggs, sugar and melted butter.
Add the lemon zest, cinnamon, milk, vanilla extract, salt, and at last slowly add the self-rising flour.
Wash and peel the apples, cut in thin slices.
Add the juice of the lemon to the apples.
Butter and flour a 25 cm baking pan.
Preheat the oven at 180 C (350 F)
Pour the mixture in the baking pan and then insert the apple slices (I placed them vertically, radially, is that a word?)
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for 50/60 minutes and allow to cool before taking out of the baking pan.
Serve with cream.

Juliette

Normally in March, or at the beginning of April, I would already have gone once to the seaside. At least to lunch on the sand and enjoy the first rays of the sun.
This year has been completeley different.
In March it rained, the same goes for April, and well, now it's May. May has been cold and rainy this year, with some days of sunny weather, but never too much.
Fortunately, my mood doesn't go along with the weather. But after these months, I just needed the sun to shine.

So,
Why am I saying this?
Because today was the first wonderful, sunny, pleasant, warm with a bit of cool summer breeze day of 2010. And I am so happy!
Ok, I have been studying. But studying on the balcony, with a cup of tea and sunglasses, isn't the same as studying in a cold, dark room.

(this is a detail of my mother's little tomato plants)

And obvioulsy I wanted to bake something. Given that Summer is here (I'm not saying it will last forever..) I thought of making some fruity tartelettes (tartlets, or?).
I have no tartelettes moulds, no similar kind of mould, nothing of that kind, so.. well I tried to make something similar from scratch.

Ok, stop talking and talking.
Here's the recipe:

Fruity tartelettes (with yogurt pie crust)



Dough

250 g all purpose flour
150 g yogurt (you can use both whole or low-fat)
65 g granulated sugar
65 g cold unsaltened butter
a pinch of salt

Mix flour, salt and sugar.
Cut the butter into little cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Mix and slowly add the yogurt until it becomes a consistent dough.
Wrap it into a sheet of plastic and place into the freezer for 3 hours.

Filling/Topping

1 apple
1 banana
10 strawberries
1 orange
70 g sugar
1 Tbs flour

1 egg

Cut the fruit in pieces/dices. Blend all the ingredients together.

---

Preheat the oven at 180 °C.

Now, after the 3 hours have passed, I rolled the dough out, cut big circles of it (7cm or so) (the dough was 2-3mm thick). Then I placed a tablespoon of fruit in the middle and wrapped the dough around it, just to make the borders, and not to let the fruit flow away.
Beat the egg and brush it onto the crust. (I haven't done this as you may see from the pictures)
When I used all the dough (and fortunately also all the fruit), I baked them in the oven for 20 minutes.
Let it cool on a rack for 10 minutes.


Today was a good day.
I hope the tartelettes will be good as well.

Have a nice evening!

HappyFroggy