Thursday 4 December 2014

Rustic Apple Cake


After baking Blueberry Cheesecake, I had half a tub of sour cream left. And 5 apples in the fridge, 4 red and 1 green. A few days before that, Wendy posted her Rustic Apple Cake which she adapted from Simply Anne's. I thought the cake looked lovely and I just had to bake it.


There is no butter in the batter but a mere 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Wendy mentioned that you could substitute that with 4 tablespoons of butter. Though I felt that the fat content in the cake is too low, I went with 4 tablespoons of grapeseed oil. I was pretty sure that the sour cream and diced apples would more than make up for the moisture content of the cake.

MamaFaMi, PH pun nak tayang PH punya NICE PLATE.
While mixing the batter, I noted that it was on the dry side and I added 2 tablespoons of buttermilk just because I had some in the fridge. It was much better but the batter is kind of thick and sticky. I may have added too much diced apples (1 green and 1 red apple) and my mixture appeared to have more "liew" than batter. It was a case of apple overkill.


Oh, I added some raisins too because my better half loves raisins. Anything with raisins tastes good to him and this is added insurance so that he will eat the cake :) 


I checked the cake after 45 minutes (this is what I usually do for all my cakes) and it was still raw, so I baked it for 1 hour. I guess I was impatient and I should have tested the cake again when the hour was up. When the cake was sufficiently cool, I sliced it and discovered that a small part at the center of the cake was still raw :( So I just cut it away. 


After taking a bite, I am sorry to say that I found the cake to be on the dry side. It tasted good, I mean apples and cinnamon with raisins is a combination that I love a lot. The sliced apples still retained some bite and I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. If I bake this cake again, I will use a butter cake recipe. Yup, my full 250g of butter as opposed to 4 tablespoons of oil. This cake is possibly meant to be a healthy cake with minimum fats but you know me, I love my butter.









Rustic Apple Cake
Adapted from : Table for Two.....or More

Ingredients :
- 200g self-raising flour
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 125g sour cream
- 4 tbsp grapeseed oil
- extra butter to scatter on top of cake
- 5 apples (4 New Zealand Royal Gala and 1 Granny smith)(Wendy's recipe uses 300g apples and I may have overdone it)
- 1 cup raisins

Method :
1. Grease and flour an 8" springform pan. Set aside.
2. Mix caster sugar and ground cinnamon. Reserve two tablespoons for sprinkling on top of cake and set aside.
3. Peel apples. Dice two and slice the other 3. Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy.
5. Beat in sour cream and oil. 
6. Add flour and mix until just moistened.
7. Fold in diced apples and raisins.
8. Scrape batter into the cake pan and level using a spatula.
9. Arrange sliced apple on top of the cake and scatter with pats of butter. Then sprinkle with the reserved 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar.
10. Bake at 160C for 1 hour or until skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

58 comments:

  1. Good morning sweetie.. Your cake looks so beautiful, I don't believe the cake is without butter.. It looks so rich, so pretty, so buttery.. I agree with you on using a butter cake recipe the next time you want to bake this again.. I always feel cake with butter taste gooder (oops, is this a word?), hehe..

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    1. Hi Louiz! I was attracted to the cake due to the topping hah..hah.... Never mind, I will bake it again but using a butter cake recipe. I won't do anymore "healthy" cakes hee..hee...

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  2. Hi PH, I have bookmarked this cake too, thanks for being tested before me heeheehee

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    1. Jess, do a butter cake version. It will taste better :)

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  3. Good morning. You were fast in baking up this cake. I can see that you didnt use whipping cream but instead sour cream. Could it be the alteration that makes your cake dry? I love using whipping cream in cakes as i feel it will oil up the batter.

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    1. Mel, the original recipe uses sour cream and since I wanted to use up my sour cream, that was what I used. From now on, I will stick to butter :)

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  4. Healthy cake is an oxymoron. The word healthy and the word cake should not be mentioned together. There is healthy salad, healthy soup, healthy chicken, but there is no such thing as healthy cake. If a cake is adapted to be healthy, it is not a cake! At least that's what I think :D

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  5. Can i have a piece for my tea break later? Hehe...

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    1. Sharon, I am scared you might not like it. But can just eat the apple topping, hor?

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  6. Now where did my comment disappear to? This blogger.com is getting to be a real nuisance. What "Trust this site with...bla...bla...bla..." and tyhe captcha and all.

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    1. Yes, I agree...I'm having problems with blogger lately too. Don't know why but some of my posts doesn't seem to get updated into other people's blogs that have linked me in their blog roll. It happened last week, it's happening again today!

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    2. Oops, sorry...it got updated already. Just slower at a snail's pace, I guess.

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    3. Blogger has this problem and sometimes even my own comments disappear :(

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  7. I see that you're a fan of Flavours magazine...me too....I never fail to buy every month. Sorry for the digression....if you didn't tell us that your apple cake is dry, we wouldn't know coz it still looks good. I guess a cake without butter just ain't the same :D

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    1. I subscribe to Flavours but some of the recipes are too complicated or too artsy fartsy for me hee..hee...

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  8. Yes like you, I prefer the cake to be more butteriched.... Lol....more heong, I would say... Ok, do bake once again and let us know better or not, ok? Yummmsss...

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  9. Hi, PH, your apple cake looks so nice eventhough you said the centre is still raw....

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    1. Hi Jozelyn! Yes, it does look pretty :) But as far as taste is concerned, I am not happy.

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  10. Hi PH, Your cake looks pretty!

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    1. Thank you, Ann! Too bad it did not live up to my expectations.

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,

    You think this cake is still dry for you... Ops! Usually grapeseed oil is the healthy kind with low saturated fat content, it can't be compared with butter!

    If the cake is too dry, how about enjoying the fruity topping? It looks really nice :D

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe! I only enjoyed the apples and raisins. But shall bake the unhealthy version soon LOL!

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  12. rustic apple cake that does not look rustic at all to me, hahaha!! instead looks like a piece of luxury cake to me, look at the presentation, slices of golden apples laying on the cake and ornamented by raisins.. in fact I do think the raisins kind of adding some charms to the cake leh, thanks to your spouse who likes raisins and of course you who sayang your spouse so much, haha!!

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    1. SK, I think apples and raisins are good together. I did enjoy it but missed the buttery richness. And of course lah I sayang my other half hee..hee...

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  13. Hi Phong Hong,
    I love the pretty apples topping.
    I love apple, raisin and cinnamon too.
    mui

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    1. Hi mui mui! Yes, that is one of my favourite combinations which is so yum! yum!

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  14. Your cake looks very yummy, especially with all the toppings...apple, raisin and cinnamon.

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    1. Thanks, Nancy! I must buy apples again :)

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  15. This one looks beautiful! I also have sour cream left in the fridge, hmm may be can bake another cheesecake :p

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  16. Hi Phong Hong,
    Oh yes, I love my butter too! Haha! And I like raisins and sultanas. Too bad the cake turned out dry, but it looks lovely though with the slices of apples on the top!

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    1. Hi Joyce! I was attracted to the looks of the cake and promptly forgot that a cake without butter would not taste as nice. But I am going to bake another one with my full 250g of butter hee..hee...

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  17. OMG, Phong Hong, you are killing me with your cakes! They look so delicious. I can't even get something as good from Secret Recipe because their cakes are more whipped cream than proper cake.

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    1. Hi Mun! Secret Recipe cakes are more towards cheesecakes and sponges with cream. I do love them! For butter cakes and such, you should be able to get them from bakeries.

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  18. Hi Phong Hong, looks like 250g butter is your cake constant companion :D
    Occasionally some healthy bakes is good too ^-^! The cake looks lovely ... full of apple slices and raisins. Looks great and inviting.

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    1. Karen, you are right! I must have my butter :)

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  19. Hi Phong Hong, I see you are baking a lot and I surrender for not been able to catch up with your bakes even your roast chicken recipes which I like so much to try. I had to a deep breathe at times when can I try these. Now I'm busy sharing my travelling experience in my other blog for people we would like to go backpacking in Thailand. There is so much to share. We had about almost 3K photos and some videos taken during this trip. When can I finish?????

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    1. Hi Kimmy! I am now following your travel blog too. You took almost 3,000 photos and I cannot imagine how to sort them out hah..hah....

      There is so much to read and I also can't catch up hah..hah... Don't worry lah. For blogging we don't have deadlines and we can update or read as and when we can. I also feel that I can't catch up especially with friends (like you) who update everyday or every other day!

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  20. The cake looks pretty .... like the topping!

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    1. Thanks, Cheah! The topping is nice to eat :)

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  21. Each time I visit your blog, I'm greeted with your wonderful cooking & baking. Wrong time to visit at this time; so hungry now. Lol!

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    1. hah..hah... I hope you had something to eat, Shirley!

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  22. Hi PH, I have bookmarked this, looks very yummy.

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  23. You are really good in baking!!! Looks so good.

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  24. hee..hee.. Thanks, Chris!

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  25. Wooooweeee!! You cake looks so heavenly nice! I always loved Apple pies and Apple Cakes. I love anything apples! You should open a bloggers cafe so that I could enjoy all your cakes and desserts. I don't mind getting fat!

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  26. Hi Phong Hong, this rustic apple cake is delightfully beautiful and irresistible! Love how you arranged the slices of apple on the cake. It has that rustic look too! Thanks for sharing and regards :)

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    1. Thanks, Ivy! But the taste fell short for me :(

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  27. Good day dear ! I love apple cake. Its the best way to clear up the leftover every month after prayers. >o< Yours look really inviting.
    Blessings, Kristy

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    1. Hi Kristy! I was very tempted to buy some more apples hah..hah... But not so soon, I still have other things to clear :)

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  28. i had missed many of your posts...slowly catching up...i know you...you love all rich and butter cake! the richer, the better!! LOL!!

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    1. Don't worry, Lena. Take your own sweet time. Yes, I love butter. Lots of it!

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