Deborah Mele's Rustic apple cake with rosemary syrup
‘That cake was absolutely f**king …’
‘Amazing?’
‘Yeah’
I made this cake a few nights ago and it was by all accounts ‘amazing’. Normally, when the boyfriend is around I am only allowed to take in enough cake to share with my team, but as he was away on business I was able to take the whole thing to work. I should do so more often; my colleagues are certainly more vocal in their gratitude and, hey, even if I am buying the attention, it is nice to bask in the glory of an amazing cake for a few hours.
Luisa Weiss, of The Wednesday Chef put me onto the idea of using rosemary in baking, when she blogged about her new discovery in Kim Boyce’s cookbook:
I did not think I would ever be a fan of rosemary in cake. I like it on my potatoes just fine, but in my desserts? Nah, no thanks.
Silly me ... It tastes so bewitchingly good, you will find yourself thinking about the cake the day after you make it, and the day after that as well, trying to find excuses to bake another round of it.
Later I read a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall article where he suggested sprinkling a little rosemary over an apple tart. Somewhere along the way my lines got crossed and I thought I had read about an amazing apple and rosemary cake on The Wednesday Chef. No wonder I couldn’t find it when I typed those search terms into Google. According to the laws of SEO you might be thinking I should still have ended up there, but as it turns out I was onto a good thing; there are many recipes for apple and rosemary cake, so I didn't find Weiss' post until I later scoured her site to work out where the idea had come from.
I went for this recipe because I liked the fact that it used chunky apples and I was intrigued by the idea of a sticky, rosemary-infused syrup applied liberally to the top of the cake and left to permeate it through holes made with a skewer.
In the end I boiled the syrup for longer than specified in the original recipe resulting in a thick, caramel-like consistency. This meant that it did not seep into the cake as intended, but it did form a lovely crust on top as the sugar crystallised, which my colleague likened to the icing for a lemon drizzle cake.
Given that the original reason for searching for the recipe was because I was interested in trying rosemary in a dessert, I was keen to ensure that I could actually taste it. For this reason, I added an extra tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary to the cake mix.
The recipe did not specify what type of sugar to use, so I used caster for the cake, Demerara for the syrup and muscovado for the apples. The only issue with the muscovado was that it made the instruction to cook the apples until they are ‘just beginning to brown’ obsolete, but I was still able to tell when they were starting to soften.
The only thing I didn’t like about the recipe is that it provided the measurements in cups. This is not problematic for the flour and sugar, but it is difficult to level a cup of butter accurately unless it is very soft, which is not ideal for the creaming process. Ideally, butter should start at room temperature; if the butter is too soft its ability to hold air bubbles will be diminished. I understand that it is important to be consistent, but why not provide a precise measurement for all the ingredients? There are plenty of cookbooks and websites which provide the conversions.
Technicalities aside, I think this cake is well balanced, rounded and fulfilling. Like Weiss I found that the herbaceous, floral aroma of the rosemary lends a flavour which is both distinctive and hard to put your finger on and the combination with the soft, caramelised apples suspended in moist, crumbly cake is... well, amazing.
Ingredients
For the apples
2 medium-large apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon
For the cake
1 cup [225g] butter, softened
1 cup [caster] sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
[1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped - optional]
For the rosemary syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Method
In a heavy frying pan, heat the butter until bubbly and then add the apples, sugar, and cinnamon.
Continue to cook until the apples are soft and just beginning to brown, then set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease and flour an 8 inch spring-form pan.
In a medium bowl beat together the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each.
Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and then fold this into the egg mixture until just blended. Fold in the apple mixture [and extra fresh rosemary if using], and then pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer stuck into the center comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, combine the sugar, rosemary, and 3/4 cup of water into a small pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from the heat and let sit for an additional 15 minutes.
Strain the syrup, discarding the rosemary.
Using a small skewer or toothpick, poke holes into the top of the still warm cake about 1 inch apart. Carefully spoon half the syrup over the cake allowing it to become absorbed into the cake. Wait 15 minutes and repeat.
Allow the cake to cool and remove from the tin and serve.