mitzireddy

A visit to the hair salon need not be a time consuming and tedious affair especially when you get to hear the latest scandals and happenings from your ever chatty hairdresser and you also get to read copies of magazines that you might not usually buy. If you are lucky you also come across some recipes that catch your attention and you scratch through your handbag to find some kind of paper that you can write on (usually the back of an envelope) and quickly jot down the recipe.

I got this recipe for the Toffee Apple Pesach cake from a Garden and Home magazine – and  it’s from a cookbook, Celebrating with the Kosher Butcher’s wife. Pesach, known in English as Passover, is one of the most commonly observed Jewish holidays.

I love the combination of apple, cinnamon and pecan nuts – and the aroma wafting through the house when this cake was baking was mouth watering.

The cake is layered before baking:

Cake batter

Pecan mixture

Apple mixture

Cake batter

Apple mixture

Pecan mixture

TOFFEE APPLE PESACH CAKE

Serves 8 – 10

FOR THE APPLE MIXTURE

5 large Granny smith apples

250ml water

125g raisins

Peel, core and cut the apples into eighths and place into a saucepan.

Cover with the water and bring to boil.

Once boiling, turn off the heat, stir and cover with a lid.

Allow the apples to stand and soften in the hot liquid until cool.

Drain the water, once cooled, and add the raisins to the apple mixture.

Keep aside.

FOR THE PECAN MIXTURE

100g pecan nuts, coarsely chopped

240g brown sugar

15ml ground cinnamon

Mix the pecan nuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl until well combined and set aside.

FOR THE CAKE BATTER

4 eggs

240g sugar

125ml oil

5ml vanilla essence

240g cake flour

3ml bicarb of soda dissolved in

60ml water

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Grease a rectangular baking tin ( or a 20cm square foil container)

Make a cake batter by beating the eggs and sugar together until light and creamy.

Add the oil and vanilla essence.

Continue to beat until well combined.

Stir in the cake flour.

Add the bicarb of soda mixture and blend well.

Pour half the batter into the baking pan.

Sprinkle half of the pecan mixture over the cake batter in the baking pan.

Spoon half of the apple and raisin mixture over the pecan layer.

Pour the balance of the cake batter over.

Followed by the apple and raisins mixture.

Sprinkle the balance of the pecan mixture over the top of the cake.

Bake in the oven for approx. 1 hour.

Then switch off the oven and leave it in for another 15 – 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the toffee sauce

FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE

125ml cold water

180ml sugar

125ml non – dairy creamer (I used Cremora)

Bring the water and sugar to boil.

Once it starts to turn caramel in colour, remove from the heat.

Add the non dairy creamer and mix well.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour over the warm toffee sauce.

Serve at room temperature.