21 Comments
Nov 6, 2022Liked by Nicola Lamb

Hi! Question from an American: is apple juice in the UK the same as here? Normally when I see a recipe for reducing, it’s for apple cider, not juice. I think our apple juice might be different...? Thanks!

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I’ll have to make this next week. I just made an “apple fritter cake” this morning but I’ve a feeling there is going to be a gummy layer around the fruit in the middle- nothing some custard won’t hide

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Hi Nicola, you’ve probably been asked this question before, I just made the cake-it’s baking-how do I avoid the lumps of brown sugar in the batter? Thank you, love you dedication.

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I was so sad I couldn't come on your trip to Brogdale. It looks amazing. I love tasting different apples and I also love all the different names: so poetic.

I made a cake a little while ago that was a version of Claudia Roden's famous boiled orange cake but using apples and it worked quite well. I was going to make it again this weekend but will be giving this a go instead. Thanks!

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Thank you for articulating understandings I had about this only on a subconscious level! I had just gone through this last week when a neighbor gifted me orchard apples. I couldn’t find any good recipe for a cake, for all of the issues you just described! And now I understand why I do not like upside-down cakes! I ended up making applesauce, which as you described does not add a lot of flavor but is good for moisture, and apple pie bars, which is a cheaters apple pie and so delicious. I will have to try this version!

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I really liked reading about why it's so hard to incorporate fruit puree into cakes - now I know why banana bread is never banana-y enough for me! Would you ever do a KP on banana bread? It's such a classic but I haven't found the perfect recipe yet :)

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This was the best email to wake up to on a cold wet Sunday morning. Although I’m now ashamed that every apple cake I’ve ever made probably had the weird gummy layer around the fruit!!

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Thank you so much for this amazing post. I had, quite literally, invented a Spice Apple and Gorse Syrup butter days before your post so I have taken your advice and had a go at using it in a cake. Utterly delicious and perfect without the raw bits of cake around the apple chunks.

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I just made this and it is, of course, divine

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Nov 9, 2022·edited Nov 9, 2022

I made this today, it’s delicious!

I’m in Italy and Bramley apples don’t seem to be a thing over here so I swapped them out for Granny Smiths and it worked perfectly!

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This looks so delicious. Is there a specific reason you used apple puree in the cake batter and not the reduced apple juice?

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