APPLE CRUMBLE CAKE & BROWN SUGAR CUSTARD
Moist apple crumble cake with a beautiful brown sugar custard.
Issue #11 of Unfiltered Flavours+! Welcome back!
Two of my favourite desserts moulded into one. Fluffy sponge cake with a beautiful delicate crumb, cinnamon apples, buttery crumble and a brown sugar custard? The flavours are truly exquisite.
When it comes to cake I’m such a simple person. I don’t like cakes with loads of buttercream. I don’t like cupcakes with a crazy amount of frosting and if I’m being honest I love plain cake and warm custard lol! So for me, this cake is just up my street. It combines two simple desserts, really well.
Flavours & ingredients
This is the type of cake that you can eat alone, eat warm, eat cold or with a good cup of tea. With this recipe it’s about getting the sweetness right. Whilst I appreciate a sweet crumble, when it comes to cakes I require more balance. This is why I love cake and custard. A good custard is sweet, but it’s not overly sweet (when done right) so the creamy mouth feel of custard is like a warm hug with this cake.
Apple selection when cooking apples is so important. You want to use Granny Smith or Bromley apples for something like this. They’re nice and tart, which means you get a really lovely apple taste, especially when you add a little bit of sugar. Given their structure they’re also really good at being cooked, yet not get super mushy.
The custard is a game changer. don’t get me wrong I love me some ambrosia custard, however a home made custard always wins in my eyes. Especially if you do it well, which you will! If you can, make sure you’re using good quality eggs, milk and double cream. The better the produce, the better the final product. I like using light muscavado sugar because the darker the sugar the more flavour, you get subtle caramel notes from this one and it’s truly fantastic!
Technique & equipment
Now some people like using just butter for their cake, some people like just oil. I think it depends on the cake. You can’t replace the butteriness you get from butter with oil. Butter tends to create a cake that is little more dense, but richer in flavour. Oil helps to make cakes way more moist and tender. For something like an apple crumble cake, I think using a mixture of both provides the perfect crumb!
When it comes to cakes, you want to use silver pans. It just means your cakes won’t brown way too much. You can honestly use whatever you like, but I find the bake is way better when using light coloured pans. I use 9” x 9” pans, if you go smaller just keep in mind that your cake will take longer to bake. I personally like using a stand mixer, you can definitely make a cake without one but it will take a little longer so please keep that in mind.
Ingredients and Method
Cake:
3 Granny Smith apples
1 tbsp cinnamon