Kitchen Project #152: Caramelised Apple Crumble Cake
AKA how to convert your recipes into autumn + SIFT NORTH AMERICA UPDATES
You might have heard… I've written a cookbook called SIFT. In a few days, I'll pack up my suitcase and fly to the US for the North American launch. It’s officially out on 12th November, and as we approach the US release date, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you more about the book and what is coming in the next few weeks.
If you’re reading this and thinking umm… What's SIFT? Well, let me tell you!
SIFT: The Elements of Great Baking is my debut cookbook. It was released in the UK in May, translated into two languages—Italian and Dutch—and will finally be released in the US and Canada in ten days. Yes, it has been translated into American (jk, but not).
When I wrote SIFT, I aimed to write the book I wish I’d had during my pastry journey. From the times I’d be scouring the internet for trustworthy recipes at 18, hoping to bake something tasty for my colleagues, or when I was starting my first professional kitchen job at 23 and wishing I knew a bit more about ‘why’ things were happening, to being in jobs trying to find time to develop recipes but not knowing the levers to pull, I’ve packed as much useful information as I could into the book.
Really, it’s really two books in one. The first half is a FUN (yes, capital letters FUN) deep dive into the technical side of baking, with in-depth sections on Flour, Eggs, Sugar and Fat, as well as Texture, Colour, How Things Rise & a Technical Overview. The second half of the book is packed with recipes, featuring stunning photography by Sam A Harris and styling by Holly Cochrane. Everything in the book has been specifically designed to be buildable, depending on your mood and confidence level. Whether you want to make croissants together or a one-bowl easy cookie, every recipe comes with a timeline and references back to the front section so you can learn more about what is happening in the recipe.
Pre-orders
Thank you so much to everyone who has pre-ordered a copy. Pre-ordering is the absolute best way to get your hands on SIFT - it will arrive on the day it’s published and you’re guaranteed to get the best price for it. What’s not to love?
Also, to be real - pre-orders are so helpful for authors like me! The more pre-orders a book gets, the more excited retailers get about it, too. So, if you’re able, click the button and get a copy! AND, if you’re reading this in Australia or the UK, you can click that link and have a copy in your hands pretty much instantly.
TOUR - LETS HANG OUT!
For two weeks I’ll be travelling around the US to celebrate the launch of the book. And finally I can announce all of my wonderful conversation partners for the event, along with details of bakery and restaurant collaborations along the way!
While the details of some of these are still to be confirmed, here’s what's coming up. I hope to see you there
NEW YORK
Saturday 9th November -
SIFT x WildAir Donut (I’ll be in town, so see you there!!!!)
SEATTLE
**BOOK LAUNCH DAY** Tuesday 12th November
Book Larder demo & talk with Rachael Coyle of Coyle’s Bakeshop (SOLD OUT)
SIFT x Kemi Dessert Bar limited edition collab box - orders open soon!
Wednesday 13th November -
Guest pastry at Coyle's Bakeshop
SAN FRANCISCO
Thursday 14th November
Omnivore Books talk with Nicole Accettola of Kantine SF - not ticketed, just come by!
LOS ANGELES
NEW YORK
Tuesday 19th November - NYC
Archestratus Books + Food - Book talk with Natasha Pickowicz - Tickets
MINNEAPOLIS
Thursday 21st November
Bellecour at Cooks of Crocus Hill - Baking masterclass Tickets
Saturday 23rd November
Book signing and pastry collab at Diane's Place
I’m so grateful for everyone who is already planning to come along, and I’m looking forward to meeting you soon. I’ve heard from all the venues that we are very close to being sold out, so if you are planning on coming, grab a spot now.
One of my favourite parts of the UK tour, other than meeting you guys, was getting to collaborate with bakeries IRL, so I’m very excited about what’s ahead. YES, I am packing a bunch of baking kits in my suitcase. Please let's pray for my luggage allowance.
A little Q&A…
What’s the difference between the US and UK versions? Are the revisions from the first edition taken in? Are there different recipes?
OF COURSE… the COVER, but importantly for my North American readers, thanks to Maria Zizka, the official ‘Americanizer’ of SIFT and author of many gorgeous books (including the recently released ‘The Hostess Handbook’), you won’t have to flip between °C and °F. Crucially, the recipes have been tested - and adjusted - with US ingredients and measurements (though don’t worry, the grams are still there), which means you are in such good hands with this book.
There aren’t different recipes! These are 100 of my favourites, so it would be hard to swap any of them out. I am interested to see if some of the more British delicacies - steamed puddings, etc.- make their way into US hearts!
In addition, any corrections (typos, etc. - they happen!) from the first edition of the UK book, which you can find here, have been taken in.
Will you be touring elsewhere? Come to Sydney!
I’d LOVE to… let’s see. Not Australia (yet), but I am going to come back to North America early next year in a series of events I am affectionately calling the snow tour, so watch this space. Canada, I won’t forget you!!!
What’s your favourite page in the book
I will not shut up about how incredible my designers, Josh Harker and Chris Nuelle, aka Nueker, are. They created such a gorgeous visual identity for the book, coming up with incredible solutions to display SO.MUCH.INFO (there are almost 50,000 words in the reference section! And another 60,000 in the recipes ) in a way that feels welcoming, not overwhelming, and easy on the eye both from an aesthetic perspective and a practical one. The egg section was the first one we designed, and I still love it so much - the meringue chart on pg. 48 is such a keeper.
And there’s a more extensive Q&A in this newsletter here. Or leave your Q’s in the comments! And don’t forget to order your copy here :)
Alright, let’s bake something
How to dress your dessert for Autumn
One thing I didn’t realise about writing a book was how much of it would reflect the season that it was created in. Much of SIFT was written and developed in the Spring, photographed in the summer (and then released and promoted in the UK the following Spring) which means the book hasn’t really had its autumnal moment.
Part of what I hope to do with SIFT and this newsletter is give you the freedom to create your own recipes. The most exciting thing about learning to bake was taking elements of different desserts I love and marrying them together. Whether it’s adjusting the spices or swapping sugars to suit your mood, baking is a ‘choose your own adventure’ hobby, and once you have a couple of rules locked in, there’s truly no limit.
Ahead of the launch, I want to share two autumnal variations on recipes in the book: An Apple Tart, riffing on the ‘Any Galette’ pg. and an Apple Crumble Custard Cake, riffing on the rhubarb custard cake on pg. 252. These are the recipe equivalents of getting your knitwear and thick socks out of storage and readying yourself for the months ahead.
Head over to KP+ now to get the lowdown on the apple galette and a loose guide to my ideal apple crumble (because the moment I tried to overengineer crumble, the pure essence of the dessert disappeared).
From rhubarb to apples in 3…2…1
For today’s newsletter, and to show you how to adjust your own recipes, I’m going to take each element of the Rhubarb Custard Cake in SIFT and convert it into something beautifully autumnal: Caramelised Apple Custard Crumble Cake.
It’s a mouthful to say and a mouthful to enjoy, too. Let’s go part by part:
The Cake: The cake in the book is an gorgeous soft sour cream base. To update it for autumn, I had a thought.. What goes great with apples? Rye! Unfortunately, rye flour is not always great for cakes. It lacks the elasticity and spring associated with wheat flour and is ultra-absorbent. It has a lot of flavour and a gorgeous nuttiness, which can overwhelm delicate cake batters and add a savouriness that might not be desirable. To make it work in the cake here, I’m using it in conjunction with the wheat flour at a 25/75 ratio and also upping the sugar to compliment the rye flavour and improve tenderness. Since rye could add denseness, upping a tenderising ingredient like sugar is a good way to maintain a good texture in the cake. I also added some cinnamon - optional but a simple way to amp up cosy flavours. Spice as you like!
The Fruit: Unless you’re scattering berries atop a muffin or cake, I think almost all fruit deserves to be cooked before going into the oven. Oven heat is harsh and dry - apples can become floury, dry, and burst if plonked on top of a cake without any tempering. Caramelising apples only takes a few minutes and barely any work. Sure, you have one extra pan to clean, but it's worth the amount of control you get over the fruit’s texture.
The Custard: Is it controversial that I’m sharing a recipe with custard to celebrate the US book release? This week I realised how divisive and misunderstood custard is in the US and North America (we’ll talk more about this soon) but I decided to forge ahead. If there’s one legacy I can leave with this newsletter or book, it’s converting at least one person into a custard lover! For this cake, I haven’t made any adaptations from the book. Just good old pastry cream. And if you don’t like custard, just omit it!
The Crumb: I had a lot of crumble discussions in my instagram DMs this week and I appreciate the love for oats out there. So, since apple, oats and rye feel like the three musketeers of autumn, it felt right to bring them together here. Using a ratio of 1:1.5:1:1.5. More oats than flour is controversial for me as this feels more like granola than crumble, but it works very well with the soft cake, custard and yielding apples.
Alright, let’s make it.
Caramelised Apple Custard Crumb Cake
Adapted from SIFT: The Elements of Great Baking. Order it here!
Equipment: 1 x 8x8 inch or 8inch tin
Ingredients
Pastry cream
250g whole milk
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped or 1 tsp vanilla paste
60g caster sugar
3 egg yolks, about 60g
20g cornflour
20g butter
Crumb
30g Light brown sugar
45g Butter
30g Flour
45g Rolled Oats
Pinch of salt
Caramelised Apples
300g eating apples (you need 200g prepared weight)
50g Caster sugar
25g Butter
Cake
120g Soft butter
100g Caster sugar
70g Muscovado Sugar (soft brown)
100g whole eggs, about 2
150g Plain flour
50g Rye flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp flaky salt
120g Sour Cream
Method
To make the pastry cream. Heat the milk, vanilla and half the sugar in a pan over medium heat until simmering. Adding the sugar at this stage helps to prevent the milk solids from scorching. Whisk the egg yolks with the cornflour and the remaining sugar. Once the milk is bubbling, pour a little over the egg yolks to temper and then add the rest and return the whole mixture to the stovetop. Cook – whisking all the time – until the mixture is thick and bubbling, about 1 minute. Whisk in the cold butter.
Pour into a clean, heatproof container, passing through a sieve, then cover and cool completely. Baking paper or cling film touching the surface will help prevent a skin from forming. As it cools, it will become a jelly-like texture and need to be beaten with a whisk before using. Pastry cream lasts for 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
To make the crumb, stir together the oats, flour, and sugar. Rub the cold butter into the mixture until crumbs form. You want a mix of smaller and chunkier crumbs. Set aside or keep in the fridge until ready to use.
For the apples, peel and core and cut into even pieces, about 1-2cm in width.In a low, wide frying pan, add the caster sugar. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat until it starts to melt, caramelise, and even burn in places, about 3-4 minutes. You can move it around if you want, but I normally just let it do its thing. Add the butter along with the apples reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture come to bubble. Lower the heat, then allow the apples to simmer in the caramel sauce for about 10 minutes or until tender. Depending on the varieties, you might get a mixture of mushier and firmer pieces.Once the apples are caramelised and softened, remove the pan from heat. Let the caramelised apples cool slightly before using, or cool completely and store in the fridge for 3 days
Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan. Line the square tin with baking paper extending above the tin's lip by 5cm to help you remove it later. S
To make the cake, cream the butter and sugars together for 2–3 minutes until light. You don’t need to go ultra-white and fluffy here. Next, emulsify in the eggs. Due to the ratio between butter and eggs, it WILL probably look (and be) split. Don’t worry. Continue anyway. Stir through the sifted flours, salt and raising agent. Finally, stir through the sour cream.
Spread the batter evenly on the base. Loosen the pastry cream, as it will have gelled, by stirring. Dot the cake with generous blobs then place apples all over the top. Scrape any caramelised juices on, too!
Finally, scatter generously with the crumb, making sure there is still space for the cake and custard to peek out. Bake for 45–55 minutes. It’s ready when there’s only the slightest hint of a wobble in the middle. Check the internal temp is 96°C. A skewer may not come out clean because of the fruit and custard.
Leave to cool for about 30 minutes in the tin before carefully removing it and leaving to cool completely on a rack before cutting, about 2 hours. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2–3 days.
Who doesn’t like custard?! Madness
Very excited to hear that you are coming to Canada!