Apple Cake

This is not a long held family recipe – it is from a book called The Apple Cake which we found at the library. It’s by Nienke van Hichtum with illustrations by Marjan van Zeyl. At the end of the story, they give the recipe as follows:

4 Cups of flour
1 cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm milk
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1/2 cup of butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 a teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon or grated lemon peel
2/3 cups of raisins
3 apples cut into small pieces
Icing sugar
Optional Topping:
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter

Place the flour into a medium bowl and make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast. Add half the lukewarm milk and gently stir the yeast and milk into a crumbly dough. Let stand for 10 minutes.  Now add the rest of the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and cinnamon or grated lemon peel and stir well. Cover bowl loosely with a cloth and allow the dough to rise (about 2 hours) until it has doubled in size. Carefully stir in the apples and raisins. Turn the mixture into a greased and floured cake pan. Allow the dough to rise again (about 1/2 hour).
Optional topping: combine sugar, cinnamon and melted butter in a small bowl, Sprinkle over cake.

Bake the cake in the bottom of the oven at 180° for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning the cake out. Shake icing sugar over the cake and let cool  before eating.

I found this lasted quite well in the fridge and is a great inclusion for morning tea.

Lunch in the evening and Marketing 101 – from Laura

I asked Laura for a lunchbox idea and she sent me this:

The thing that is making my word spin a little smoother currently is to do the lunchboxes while I make dinner (or just as I’ve ladelled it out if it’s left-overs). Honestly, I used to worry that it may taste ‘stale’ if I didnt lovingly cut the bread 2 minutes before Lil’ Guy went out the door, but I’ve realised the benefits of the 5pm lunch box prep are enormous!

This week we are loving lebanese bread with mixed toppings, rolled tight, cut into ‘snails’, and also apple cake* with cream and twofruits in a tupperware pot. Mmm

Laura’s reference to ‘snails’ reminded me that sometimes getting children to try something new is all in the marketing – and animals are always popular!  

*This may not be the recipe Laura uses but I’m sure it would work.