There are recipes that signal the change of season better than any calendar. Homemade apple cake is one of them: the scent wafting from the oven is enough to transport you straight back to those first cool afternoons, when the days grow shorter and you’re longing for a blanket on your lap and a cup of hot tea in your hands.
Ours is a soft and delicious apple cake, made without butter in the batter, using Greek yoghurt and lots and lots of apples. But the detail that turns it into a real treat is the ginger and cinnamon custard: velvety, fragrant and slightly spiced, to be poured generously over every slice.
And just because summer is drawing to a close, it doesn’t mean it’s time to give up on outdoor cooking. In the Palazzetti wood-fired oven, the cake bakes slowly and evenly, whilst the enveloping heat ensures a lovely golden crust and leaves the centre soft and moist. Meanwhile, the scents of apples, vanilla and spices begin to mingle in the air: perhaps one of the best ways to welcome autumn, which is finally knocking at the door.
Easy to make and even more delicious served slightly warm, this apple cake with ginger and cinnamon custard is the perfect recipe for the leisurely afternoons of this season. Those moments when, at least for once, there’s no rush to get up from the table or put down a good book.
Apple cake with ginger and cinnamon custard – the recipe for lazy afternoons
Prep time: 20 minutes + 1 hour cooking time
Serves 8
Difficulty: easy
INGREDIENTS
For the apple cake:
- 4 medium eggs
- 130 g caster sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 100 ml maize oil
- vanilla flavouring to taste (or vanilla seeds or vanilla extract)
- 300 g Greek yoghurt (10% fat)
- 220 g plain flour
- 50 g potato starch
- One sachet of baking powder
- 5–6 apples
- butter and brown sugar to taste
For the syrup:
- 50 ml water
- 50 g caster sugar
For the custard:
- 175 ml whole milk
- 75 ml single cream
- 40 g sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- ground ginger and cinnamon to taste
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METHOD
- Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the sugar and a pinch of salt, then whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Gradually add the oil and the vanilla essence, continuing to whisk; now add the Greek yoghurt, one tablespoon at a time.
- Finally, fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and cornflour.
- Line a 26 cm tart tin with baking paper, then pour in the mixture.
- Now it’s time for the stars of the show: peel the apples, remove the cores and slice them thinly.
- Arrange the apples in a radial pattern on top of the mixture, so that they completely cover the surface of the tart: slightly overlapping, starting from the outside of the tart and working towards the centre; the entire mixture must be covered by the apples.
- Add a few knobs of butter and a sprinkling of brown sugar to the top. Bake in a preheated static oven at 180°C for about 1 hour (check the tart after 40 minutes; if the apples start to brown too much, cover with a sheet of aluminium foil).
- Make a syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Once the cake is out of the oven, whilst it is still warm, brush the syrup over the entire surface.
- Whilst the cake is cooling, prepare the accompanying cream: heat the milk, cream, sugar, ginger and cinnamon. When it’s just about to boil, over a very low heat, add the egg yolks and stir continuously until it has thickened (if you have a thermometer, check it doesn’t exceed 83°C – otherwise, if you’re not used to this, cook it in a bain-marie), until it reaches the consistency of a velvety sauce.
- Serve the apple cake in slices, drizzled with the ginger and cinnamon custard. Enjoy your afternoon treat!
