Apple Cake With Almonds
We all love cake, but how do you make cake healthy? Apples are definitely a fruit to eat as near to daily as you can – great for the lungs, for fighting allergies, for a healthy microbiome, and produced in the UK. Plenty of ticks in the right boxes! If it’s cake you’re after, using apples and basing the cake on ground almonds gives you a treat packed to the rafters with health benefits.
A high protein profile, keeps well due to the moisture of the apples and almonds, and absolutely delicious as dessert.
Eat with a dollop of Greek yogurt spiked with vanilla extract for even more protein, balancing blood sugar, steadying energy levels, feeding hormones and boosting the brain.
Cakes like this are so easy to make – all they need is a quick blitz in a food processor! Add spices to the apples or the topping for an autumn or winter twist with the added nutrients that spices like cinnamon or ginger provide.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes for apple puree, plus 5 minutes mixing
- Cook Time: 40 minutes approx
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices 1x
Ingredients
275g caster sugar + 2 tsps approx (for the apples)
8 eggs (good sized, preferably large)
325g ground almonds
juice of 1 lemon
3 good sized eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into even chunks
flaked almonds to sprinkle on the top (add other chopped nuts if you prefer)
icing sugar or cocoa powder (or both!) to decorate for serving
Instructions
Firstly, stew the apples to make a puree (or sauce in the US!) You’ll need it to be cooled down to use, so making ahead is fine. Put the apple chunks in a pan with about a tbsp of lemon juice and the 2 tsps of caster sugar – you may need to adjust the sweetness after making the puree if the apples are particularly tart. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover, cooking gently until the apples are just tender enough to collapse down into a mash with a fork. It doesn’t have to be completely smooth, but cook the apples until the chunks can be broken down.
Once the puree is nearly cool, heat the oven to 180C, and grease a cake tin (23 cm or slightly more works well. If the tin is smaller or larger, adjust cooking time, checking to see if it’s cooked). Once the oven is heated and the puree is cool, put the puree, eggs, rest of the caster sugar and another squeeze of lemon juice in a food processor and combine until smooth.
Pour into the tin, sprinkle the nuts over the top and bake for around 40 minutes. It always pays to keep a close eye on flourless, fatless cakes – they are wonderfully moist but can become dry if over-baked. The cake is ready when a knife just comes out clean from the middle as it will continue to cook slightly as it cools. Check from about 35 minutes, and cook until the squidginess has just firmed in the middle. Serve warm, decorated however you choose. A dusting of something is really all you need.
Lasts a few days, and can benefit from gentle warming as you reach the last slices. Freezable – wrap well.