Thursday, May 15, 2008

WTSIM: Dried Fruit and Nuts - Double Apple Bundt Cake



When I saw that this month's Waiter There's Something In My ..., hosted by Andrew of Spittoon Extra, had a theme of dried fruit and nuts, I was in straight away. I love fruit and nuts of all varieties, and when I have the chance to put them into baked goods, the hardest part is choosing what to make!

It is Simon's birthday on Saturday, so my WTSIM entry is also Simon's birthday cake. My choice was Dorie Greenspan's Double Apple Bundt Cake from Baking - From My Home to Yours. This cake is loaded with fruit (both fresh and dried) and nuts - it contains grated apple, apple sauce (which I used instead of apple butter), pistachios (which I used instead of walnuts or pecans) and raisins. It also has lemon icing.


All of the fruit makes it a very moist, scrumptious cake. I got to try it by virtue of making a baby cake for myself, as I will be out of town tomorrow when the cake is served. It also smells heavenly while it is cooking and fresh out of the oven due to the warm apples. I was actully sad that I will only get my one muffin-sized piece!


This cake is not difficult to make, but it is a little time intensive because of the requirement to chop the nuts and peel, core and grate the apples. It also takes the best part of an hour to bake. However, I was easily able to make it from start to finish (including icing) in an evening.

If you want to try this cake, you will need:

2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
130g butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup apple butter (I used apple sauce and it seemed fine)
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pistachios)
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a bundt pan and set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients togethr in a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs , one at a time. With your mixer on low speed, add the apple butter, then the grated apple, and finally add the dry ingredients, and beat until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir through the nuts and raising by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan, and bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes. Cool the cake in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cake is completely cool, ice with a lemon glaze made from icing sugar and a little lemon juice. Enjoy!

Thanks to Andrew for hosting WTSIM again this month, and I look forward to the fruit 'n' nut roundup, especially with winter coming on.

12 comments:

Gretchen Noelle said...

This sounds scrumptious with my morning coffee!

Silvia - Magnolia Wedding Planner said...

Darling!
This cake is fantastic...maybe it easy to do..:-D but not for a mess like me :-D
but I'll try for sure!
thanks for your kind visit!
I really appreciate them and I send you a big kiss
Silvia

Mary said...

Your bundt cake looks delicious! I'm such a sucker for nut and fruit cakes!

adele said...

Mmm. This sounds very good... almost like a summer fruitcake, perhaps?

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Nice cake! It must have tasted amazing!

Astra Libris said...

Ooooh!! What could be better than a gorgeous cake packed with luscious fruits and nuts?! Heavenly!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Gretchen, it would be perfect with a coffee!

Thanks Silvia, I love your interesting and informative blog, and thanks so much fo your kind words.

I know what you mean Mary!

Hi Adele, yes, I like that description.

Thanks Jessy - I know that my morsel sized cake was good.

Thanks Astrid - I am rather partial to treats with fruit and nuts too.

Y said...

Would you believe, I have yet to bake a bundt cake! I keep meaning to buy the tin, but keep forgetting at the same time.

Did the cake go down well?

Cakelaw said...

Hi Y, Yes, I understand that the cake was a hit - the birthday boy emailed me a thank-you note.

Rosie said...

Oh WOW your bundt cake looks SO delicious!

Rosie x

Andrew said...

Looks great indeed! Many thanks for taking part in Waiter...

Maggie said...

It isn't usual to make bundt cake here in the UK. This is a wonderful cake and full of autumnal flavours. Great entry!