Apple Olive Oil Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Icing Recipes

APPLE AND OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH MAPLE ICING

Steps:

• 1. Grease an 8-inch / 20-cm springform cake pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Place the raisins and water in a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat until all of the water has been absorbed. Leave to cool.
• 2. Preheat the oven to 325°F / 170°C. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.
• 3. Put the oil and superfine sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a whisk if you don't have a mixer). Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and, using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out into the bowl. Beat the oil, sugar, and vanilla together, then gradually add the eggs. The mix should be smooth and thick at this stage. Mix in the diced apples, raisins, and lemon zest, then lightly fold in the sifted dry ingredients.
• 4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl, either by hand or with a mixer, until they have a soft meringue consistency. Fold them into the batter in 2 additions, trying to maintain as much air as possible.
• 5. Pour the batter into the lined pan, level it with an icing spatula, and place in the oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the plan.
• 6. Once the cake is completely cold, you can assemble it. Remove from the pan and use a large serrated knife to cut it in half horizontally. You should end up with 2 similar disks. If the cake is very domed, you might need to shave a bit off the top half to level it.
• 7. To make the icing, beat together the butter, muscovado sugar, and maple syrup until light and airy. You can do this by hand, or preferably, in a mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the cream cheese and beat until the icing is totally smooth.
• 8. Using the icing spatula, spread a layer of icing 3/8 inch / 1 cm thick over the bottom half of the cake. Carefully place the top half on it. Spoon the rest of the icing on top and use the icing spatula to create a wavelike or any other pattern. Dust it with confectioners' sugar, if you like.

APPLE & OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE ICING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 F (170 C). Grease an 8-inch (20cm) springform pan, then line the bottom and sides of it with baking parchment. If using, put the sultana raisins and the water in a saucepan and simmer on low heat until the water has been absorbed completely. Set aside to cool.
• Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.
• Put the oil and sugar in a bowl. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the bowl (or add extract). Whisk the oil, sugar and vanilla together (you could do this with an electric mixer with a paddle attachment). Gradually add the eggs to the mixture and mix until smooth and thick. Mix in the diced apples, sultanas and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients, folding in gently (you can do this all at once).
• In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they have a soft meringue consistency. Gently fold them into the batter, in 2 additions.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the surface. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. When completely cooled, remove the cake from the tin and cut in half horizontally using a large serrated knife to form 2 discs.
• To make the icing, beat together the butter and maple syrup and sugar until light and airy. Next add in the cream cheese and beat until it's totally smooth (preferably with the whisk attachment). Use half of the icing to the sandwich the cakes together, and smooth the remaining frosting up on top.