INGREDIENTS:
For the Apple Cake:
315g Plain Flour
300g Soft Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
280ml vegan buttermilk (20ml Lemon Juice + 260ml Soy Milk)
80ml Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Extract
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
190g Granny smith apples peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes
1 cup apricot preserve
Juice of ½ lemon
Apple topping:
3 medium sized apples (gala)
Juice from ½ lemon
2 Tbsp of vegan butter, melted
2 Tbsp Pams Caster Sugar
Vegan Pastry Cream:
500g unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste With Seeds
100g Caster Sugar
60g cornflour
1 pinch Turmeric
65g vegan butter
Apple compote:
2 small apples, peeled and diced
Juice from ¼ lemon
1 Tbsp of apple juice
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Extract With Seeds
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp Caster Sugar
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch salt
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
METHOD:
Apple topping:
1. Place the melted butter, sugar, and lemon juice into a microwave-safe bowl
2. Core the unpeeled apples and cut in ½ from top to bottom
3.Finely slice the apples into ½ moons and toss in the butter mixture.
4. Microwave on high for 1 minute and leave aside
The Cakes:
5. Preheat the oven to 170°C Fan bake
6. Spray and line 2 x 23cm round springform cake pans
7. Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (280ml) line. Leave it for a minute to allow it to curdle.
8. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and mix it together.
9. Add the vegan buttermilk, oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar to the mixing bowl and mix in properly. The batter will be thick.
10. Add in the chopped apple pieces and fold in.
11. Divide the cake mix evenly between the 2 cake tins
12. Keep one cake as is. This will be your bottom cake.
13. For the 2nd cake, starting from the outside of the cake tin, overlap the apple slices in a circular manner over the cake batter to resemble a rose pattern, finishing in the middle with the little slices curled into a rose. This will be your top cake.
14. Place both tins into the oven
15. Cook the un-topped cake for 25-30 minutes and the 2nd cake for a further 25 – 30 minutes, or until cooked
16. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before turning out the first cake, and carefully remove the paper from the second cake without disturbing the apple topping.
Vegan pastry cream:
17. Place the soy milk in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil
18. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the castor sugar, cornflour, and turmeric
19. Slowly pour 1/3 of the hot milk onto the sugar mixture and whisk till smooth
20. Then pour the sugar mixture into the pot with the remaining hot milk
21. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until thick. Be careful not to let it stick and burn on the bottom!
22. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter, stirring well until it is amalgamated and smooth
23. Tip onto a shallow tray that has been lined with glad wrap, cover the pastry cream with more glad wrap to avoid a skin forming, and place in the fridge to chill quickly
Apple Compote:
24. In a small pot, place the apples, juices, vanilla, maple syrup, nutmeg, and salt
25. Stir together, pop on the lid and simmer for 5 minutes until the apples are tender but not falling apart
26. Make a slurry with the cider vinegar and cornflour and add as much as you need to the apples.
27. Heat until thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Check and adjust the flavouring to suit.
28. Tip into a shallow dish and chill immediately
Glaze to finish:
29. Heat apricot preserves in a small pot till runny.
30. Strain through a sieve and add the lemon juice.
31. Add hot water if the consistency is not right.
Assembling your cake:
32. Place the first cake on a serving plate
33. Place an 8cm ring mould in the middle of the cake and fill with the apple compote, to the same height as your pastry cream
34. Pipe the pastry cream around the outside of the cake and up to the metal ring
35. Remove the metal ring
36. Very carefully, place the second cake on top and brush with the warm apricot glaze.
Enjoy!
