Mum's apple almond and yoghurt cake

Mum's apple almond and yoghurt cake

• 15 Apr 2013

It may not appear so from the food I cook for the blog, but I eat a low fat diet. I taste test by eating slivers of what I cook and share the rest with friends, family, neighbours and work colleagues. The trouble is that fat makes things taste good so to compensate, baked treats are often high in sugar. 



When I was home in Brisbane for Easter I found a recipe for Mum's Pear Yoghurt and Coconut Cake on page 16 of the local paper, the Brisbane News. I looked through the recipe and it was very low in fat so I thought I'd give it a try. I typed out the recipe and planned to make it on my return. Last week a friend came over for dinner so for dessert, I decided to adapt the recipe a little to make an apple almond and yoghurt cake.



As there were only going to be the two of us, I scaled down the ingredients and used my favourite 17 cm spring form tin. I always have apples in the fruit bowl and was going to use a granny smith apple for this cake but I couldn't go past this rosy red Jonathan apple, my favourite apple. With fear and trepidation I thinly sliced the apple using a mandoline. I can't tell you the number of times I've almost lost a finger tip using that thing but as the spring form tin is so small, I knew I wouldn't be able to hand slice the apple thinly enough.



The cake came out nice and moist with a strong yoghurt tang but it's a little spongey in texture. I actually think the cake batter needs a bit more oil so next time I'd increase the oil a little to at least 2 tablespoons.



I served my friend's slice with a good dollop of whipped cream and some stewed apples on the side whilst I had my slice plain. She seemed to enjoy her dessert so the next day I tried a piece with a tiny morsel of cream.



The cake was completely transformed! Here's my version for you.
Mum’s apple almond and yoghurt cake 

 printable version

100 g self raising flour 
18 g almond meal
75 g caster sugar
155g plain yoghurt, reduced or full fat 
1 egg 
1 tbs vegetable oil 
1 tsp vanilla 
1 apple, peeled cored and finely sliced 
20 g flaked almonds 
1 tablespoon caster sugar

To serve
1 tablespoon icing sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF. Grease, flour and line a 17 cm round tin. In a bowl, combine the flour, the almond meal and the sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, the egg, the oil and the vanilla until well combined. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and fold together until just combined. 

Spread the batter into the prepared tin. Decoratively arrange the apple slices on top, then sprinkle over the slivered almonds and the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the cake is browned and a skewer comes out clean when inserted. 

Place the cake on a wire rack and leave to cool. When cool, invert the cake and remove the lining paper, then turn right side up. To serve, combine the icing sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the cake. If desired, serve the cake with a good dollop of whipped cream

See you all again on Wednesday with a colourful shopshoot.

Jillian