This mouthwatering German apple and cinnamon cake is dished up with a sauce that blends sweet and savoury in style, thanks to the mix of caramel and miso.
The new season’s apple harvest is with us, and with it some wonderful recipes which are never better than at this time of year. This German apple and cinnamon cake, however, has something else: it’s served with a caramel and miso sauce which blends savoury with the sweet.
‘Sweet and crisp, tart and juicy, apples are a joy in both sweet and savoury dishes,’ says our kitchen garden cook, Melanie Johnson
If you’re looking for something quicker than a cake, Melanie’s ‘last-minute baked puff pastry apples’ could be an option.
‘Peel and core four sweet eating apples. Stuff each with a filling made from four dried apricots, chopped, two tablespoons granola, two tablespoons of honey and a handful of white chocolate chips all mixed together,’ explains Melanie.
‘Divide a sheet of puff pastry into four. Hold one square over the top of each apple and press the corners together under the apple. This also works well if you cut the flat sheets with a lattice pastry roller. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.’
Recipe: Classic German apple and cinnamon cake with miso caramel sauce
Ingredients
For the cake
- 175g unsalted butter, softened
- 225g golden caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbspn vanilla-bean paste
- 1 tbspn ground cinnamon, plus more for the top
- A pinch of salt
- 175g self-raising flour
- 200g apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 1 tbspn demerara sugar
For the miso caramel sauce
- 150g soft light-brown sugar
- 100ml double cream
- 50g white miso paste
- A splash of water
To serve
- Double cream, whipped
Method
Preheat your oven to 170˚C/ 350˚F/gas mark 4 and grease an 8in loose-bottomed cake tin.
In a large mixing bowl, use electric beaters to gently break up the butter. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition, followed by the vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Mix again. Tip in the flour and beat on a slow speed until just combined (over-mixing will result in a heavier cake). Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
Arrange the apple slices onto the top of the mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon and Demerara sugar. Bake for about 55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
When the cake is baking, prepare the caramel. Gently heat the sugar, cream and miso in a small saucepan until combined. Now bring to the boil and leave, untouched, for a couple of minutes to thicken before cooling. The miso gives the caramel a depth of umami flavours that will make you want to make it time and time again.
Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before removing it.
Serve the cake warm with the miso caramel drizzled over it and a good dollop of whipped cream alongside.
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