This cake is perfect for an autumn day and a great way to use the season's apples.
Ingredients
for the sponge:
375g self raising flour
255g light brown sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking powder
large pinch of salt
zest of a lemon
120ml vegetable oil
300 ml water
3 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g cooking apple, peeled and chopped
75g hazelnuts or pecans, chopped
for the frosting:
75g dairy free margarine
75g Trex shortening
about 3 tbps hot water
150g dairy-free “cream cheese”
1kg icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
decoration:
25g hazelnuts or pecans, chopped
Method
Sponge
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and line three 6 inch tins.
Sieve the flour into a bowl and add all the other dry ingredients, including the zest.
In another bowl add all the wet ingredients, then pour these into the dry ingredients and mix as quickly as possible, then stir in the chopped apple and nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared tins.
Bake for 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the centre; allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then transfer the sponges to a wire rack.
Frosting
Beat the margarine and shortening with the hot water and vanilla extract for 30 seconds, then add the “cream cheese” and beat for a minute. Add the icing sugar gradually and continue to beat. It should be a firm but spreadable consistency. If it is too dry, add a little more water and if it is too wet add more icing sugar. Take care not to overbeat the frosting.
To assemble the cake, cut the top off the sponges and sandwich the three layers together with the frosting, then spread a thin layer of frosting over the sides and top of the cake. This is a crumb coating and will stop any crumbs showing. Apply the rest of the frosting in a thick layer on the top and sides and smooth this with a palette knife or scraper.
If you’d like a rippled effect, sit the cake on a turntable and press the back of a teaspoon or the tip of a palette knife against the side of the cake, allowing it to drag through the icing as the cake turns. Do the same on the top of the cake. Finally, decorate the top with some chopped nuts.