Apple Vanilla Yoghurt Cake

Serves 10

Ingredients

1/2 cup Schulz yoghurt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups unbleached plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 apples, tart variety like granny smith if possible
1 tbsp raw sugar
1/4 cup flaked almonds

Cinnamon Cream:
200g Schulz pure cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
Pinch of  ground cinnamon

Summary

Based on a classic yoghurt cake shared here, with additions of apple and vanilla. Add any fruit to this cake recipe – pears and cinnamon, or summer berries perhaps.  Lemon zest in the batter and a lemon syrup on top would be a fine use of winter lemons but in this case, we’ve used a couple or organic summer red apples from our weekly box.  Another really easy and reliable recipe that doesn’t even involve creaming eggs and sugar with any kitchen appliances beyond a whisk or a fork. Wonderful!

Apple and Vanilla Yoghurt Cake

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Combine the yoghurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a generous bowl and mix well with a fork or whisk until combined.  Add the flour and baking powder, and lightly mix until just incorporated.  Gradually stir in the oil and let it come together with minimal fuss.  Don’t be concerned that it looks really oily at first, you will end up with a fairly wet batter but all is well.

Pour the batter mixture into a greased and lined 9-inch cake tin.  If you’d like to add chopped/grated fruit to the inside of the cake, pour in half of the mixture and top with one chopped/grated apples before adding the remaining batter.  Quarter, core and slice the remaining apple, laying them around the top of the cake as you please. Finally, top with the flaked almonds.

Pop it into the oven for 30-40 minutes.  It’s done when the sides are coming away and a toothpick in the centre comes out clean.  You want this one to err on the moist side, so don’t be tempted to go another 5 if it’s looking good.  Cool in the tin for about 20 mins, then turn it out onto a rack.

Once completely cool, dust liberally with sifted icing sugar.

For the Cinnamon Cream
Pour cream into a medium bowl. Sift icing sugar and cinnamon together into same bowl. Whisk until cream forms soft peaks, it won’t take long!

 

 

Hints and Tips

Pear and Cinnamon variation:
Add 1 tsp ground cinnamon to the batter.
Add 2 chopped pears into the batter, and neatly slice a third to arrange on top.

Cake topping varients:

Simple Icing Sugar: 
Once the cake is completely cool, use a small sieve to dust it with 1 tbsp icing sugar.

Lemon Glaze:
Combine the juice from 2 lemons  with 1/2 cup sifted icing sugar. One the cake is completely cool, drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Jam Glaze: 
Heat 2 tbsp apricot jam until it’s a loose liquid. While the cake is still warm, gently brush the jam over the surface – this may be a little tricky if you have opted for the flaked almond topping.