apple marzipan cake

apple marzipan cake

• 30 Apr 2022

Apples are in season at the moment and I've collected so many apple cake recipes I might have to devote a month just to apple and pear cakes. A few months ago I made a marzipan plum cake and it was so delicious I just knew I'd be making it again. The original cake from Mikkel Karstad was made with rhubarb but as rhubarb is $8.00 a bunch at the moment I decided to go with the changing seasons and made an apple version.

I've made the cake twice now and tweaked the recipe slightly from the original. For this cake I used caster sugar and as it's a bit sweeter than brown sugar, I reduced the sugar content a little. I also topped the apple slices with a little bit of butter because butter makes everything taste better.

 

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. This cake was inspired by a Mikkel Karstad recipe from the book 'Copenhagen Cult Recipes' by Christine Rudolph and Susie Theodorou. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60 g eggs. My oven is a conventional oven so if you have a fan-forced oven you may need to reduce the temperature by 20°C. 

  

Apple Marzipan Cake – makes a 17 cm cake
Marzipan recipe
100g almonds, blanched, raw or a mix of both
20g icing sugar

Method
Whizz the almonds in a food processor until they become a paste. Add the icing sugar, whizz again, then add 10ml of water and whizz for a final time. Lightly knead to bring the marzipan together. Makes about 130g marzipan.

Ingredients
120g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g marzipan, chopped
2 eggs
¼ - ⅓ cup plain flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

Topping
1-2 small apples, peeled cored and thinly sliced
10g melted butter
3 tsp raw sugar mixed with ¼ tsp cinnamon

To serve

Icing sugar 

Crème fraiche or thick cream

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional. Grease, flour and line the base of a 17 cm tin with baking paper.

 

Mix the butter, sugar, vanilla and marzipan in a food processor until smooth. Gradually add the eggs, then 1/4 cup flour, salt and lemon rind. If the batter is looking a bit loose, add an extra tablespoon or so of flour. Spread the batter into the prepared cake tin paper and top with apple slices. Lightly brush the apple slices with the melted butter then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mix.

Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked when tested and the fruit has softened. If the fruit is browning too much, cover with foil and cook the cake until set in the centre. Cool for 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature with crème fraîche and a dusting of icing sugar.

This cake punches well above it's weight. It's so easy to make, so delicious and versatile as well because you can change the fruit topping as the seasons change. Everyone I've served it to, just loves it.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian