So, I know I said that we are going wheat-free in 2012, but I had to share this recipe for Danish Æblekage (Apple Cake). It is delicious enough to break a newly established resolution for. However, I do plan to try and convert it into a wheat free recipe, by changing it to a cobbler. I’ll let you know how that goes.
In the meantime I am eating the crumbs of some Spelt Oat Chocolate Chip cookies. Crumbs because well, that is what they turned into when I took them off the cookie sheet. Spelt does not rise very well and my cookies basically turned into one big puddle of dough. A rather messy (but very yummy) result! I will keep experimenting because Spelt has so many added health benefits. Some people choose to use it in a 50/50 ratio with wheat flour, just for the extra protein and vitamins. (Spelt is low in gluten, but not gluten-free, so people with Celiac should probably still avoid it.)
Back to Æblekage. I was obsessed with the idea of making this cake after eating it at a friend’s house this Autumn after a walk through the woods. I was in heaven; coming in to their “hyggeligt” home from the cold, dark woods, to homemade cappuccinos and this delicious cake, baked by a very proud 11-year-old girl. I asked for the recipe, but the entire family seemed to mumbled something about apples, hazelnuts, cinnamon and brown sugar, and the fact that they don’t follow a recipe. It must be one of those things that Danes are predisposition to possess. The ability to make Æblekage is in their genes. I knew I liked these Danes.
I, however, found a recipe here. Note that the online recipe uses walnuts. I used hazelnuts because I wanted mine to be a replica of the one my friends made.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1 small apple, halved and sliced thinly
1 small apple, diced
1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped
For Topping Mix Together:
1/8-1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8-1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
Dots of butter
Use a 6″ cake pan
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Add vanilla.
Mix dry ingredients together and add them (I usually sift them in for a cake).
Mix well, scraping the sides.
Mixed in diced apples
Top with sliced apples
Add topping, dot with butter and bake for approximately 1 hour, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Serve warm or cold with ice-cream or whipped cream.
Leave a comment