Sicilian Apple Cake
This robust and moist apple cake is the perfect balance of sweetness with a hint of bitterness from the granny smith apples. The base of this vegan cake is a chocolate cake recipe given to me from my niece Bronte who taught me how to make it a long long time ago when I was babysitting her as a little one! I removed the three tablespoons of cocoa (for a chocolate vegan cake) and adapted it to include apples and cinnamon. If you would like to add a wonderful depth to this cake - you could replace the cinnamon with a delicious Apple Cake Spice from the Gewurzhaus Spice House in Australia.
Serves: 8 - 12
Preparation: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
400g peeled and cored granny smith apples, cut into rough pieces
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup raw sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon or apple cake spice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup water
¾ cup olive oil
Extra raw sugar for sprinkling on top of the before baking
METHOD
Prepare the apples by peeling, coring and roughly chopping them to make approximately 400g of apple pieces. Cook these in a saucepan with one tablespoon of water until tender but still keeping their shape (only half-cooked). Keep an eye on the apples during the cooking process so they cook evenly and don’t burn. Stir them gently from time to time and keep the lid ajar towards the end. When ready, drain and cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan force and grease and line a 20-25cm round cake tin with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, add the self raising flour, raw sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Mix the dry ingredients well with a wooden spoon.
Then to this bowl, add the vanilla, water, olive oil and cooked apples. Mix gently with your wooden spoon until just combined. There is no need to over mix this batter.
Pour mixture into the baking tin and sprinkle liberally with raw sugar for a crunchy sweet topping.
Bake in your preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour until cooked through. Keep checking it to make sure that it’s cooked through as it can be deceiving with the large amount of apples in this cake.
Cool completely in the tin before taking it out as it will most likely break apart. Patience!
Serve as is with an espresso or cup of tea. Or, for a little extra indulgence you could serve with greek yoghurt, vanilla ice cream, custard or cream.
Stores very well in an airtight container for 5 days.