Granny's Granny Smith Apple Cake with Walnut Crumble Topping 

 

An adapted Alison Holst recipe, this heady rich apple cake was always requested by me whenever I went to visit my Granny. If it was to be eaten over afternoon tea she would serve it with Greek yoghurt, and if it was to be a dessert, she would accompany it with runny cream or French vanilla ice cream. It would always be served warm straight out of the oven. 

Even though I have changed her recipe slightly by adding ground walnuts to the topping, I know she would approve, as buttery walnut toppings were right up her alley. Every time I mix the ingredients and smell the spices cooking with the apple batter a memory is evoked of a time when Granny was still around, cooking with love in her kitchen.  

That surely is the true meaning of comfort food. 

 

Serves 8 

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Ingredients

 

Cake Batter 

• 2 large granny smith apples 

• 1 cup raw sugar 

• 125 grams butter, melted 

• 1 ½ cups wholemeal flour 

• 1 teaspoons baking powder 

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon 

• 1 teaspoons allspice 

• 1 teaspoons salt 

• 1 free range egg, lightly beaten 

Topping 

• ½ cup walnuts, ground 

• ¼ cup rolled oats 

• ¼ cup brown sugar 

• 1 teaspoons cinnamon 

• 25 grams cold butter, cubed 

 

Method 

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1. Pre heat oven to 180C 

2. Line the bottom of a 22cm cake tin with baking paper and grease the edges and up the sides of the tin with butter. You can use a larger tin and make a thinner cake, which is just as lovely, but keep in mind it will not need as long in the oven. 

3. Wash the apples and grate them into a large bowl, skin, core and all.  

4. Sprinkle in the raw sugar over the apples, then pour in the melted butter.  

5. Sieve the flour, baking powder, spices and salt directly into the bowl and begin to gently mix the dry ingredients through the wet ingredients.  Add the beaten egg to the mixture once the flour is mixed through. Mix well. 

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin - it is quite a thick so don’t be alarmed. Level the top with a spatula. 

7. To make the walnut crumble topping combine the ground walnuts, rolled oats, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Add the butter and gently rub into the dry ingredients using your fingertips. 

8. Sprinkle the crumble evenly on top of the cake. It is quite sticky; you just want to place the crumble in even lumps over the surface. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted. 

9. Enjoy warm with runny cream, ice cream or Greek yoghurt.

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**The grated apple means this cake will stay moist for three to four days, not that it will last that long! 

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