Photos by: JS and CY
My mum is a huge fan of any pastry with apples in it and was always on a constant prowl for recipes from her cooking classes/shows/books that features the Malus Domestica . So, it was to her delight one day (a year back) when I baked 2 butter cakes with apple slices on top of it
(The mini round one eventually ended up as my friend-Mx's birthday cake which we celebrated at Holland V's Breko.)
For the first time in my ENTIRE life, my mum (who has never ever complimented me for any of my food creations ever since I started invading her kitchen in JC) actually gave a 2 thumbs up and went on to devour a quarter of the 9x9 inch square cake in one sitting! She even asked me for the recipe after the mini feast. If you guys know my mum well enough, you would realise that she sets incredibly inhumane standards for everything that she does (so unlike me!haah)-from cooking and sewing (something i can never do)to the cleanliness of the house. The feeling that I got when she requested for the recipe was as though she had certified me fit for exploiting her kitchen utensils and equipment. I was esctatic. Seriously!It was a pain (before that butter cake episode) to even be around her when she bakes or cooks because she claims that I am more of a hindrance than help. And when that happens, I would childishly stomp out of the kitchen (with a very scrunched up face)and lock myself in the room in a fit of anger and disappointment. After the subtle "permission" was granted, my presence in the kitchen was tolerated and she became a little more proactive in giving me tips on good cooking/baking techniques. It reached a point where she would just throw me a receipe in the morning and instruct me to bake for her bowling/ktv party at night. OOOooo.The feeling of trust, priceless!
On one of my Friday baking night 3 weeks ago, I decided to work with something familiar - no prizes for guessing what that is. That same day, I decided that I have had enough of handheld mixers and decided to invest in a cake mixer. Trooped down to Meijers and Target, drooled at the KitchenAid Professional cake mixers which cost USD$399 (%$#@%*&*&^$#@)and settled for a Hamilton Beach one that was on discount-USD$33! And erm...you know the saying that goes :"You get what you pay for"? Very true. But in all honesty, it did help to speed up the process and the creaming was like about 10x better than what would have been if I had continued using the handheld mixer which threatened to tear off my limb after 5 minutes of creaming.
I was pleased with the cake that day and baked for almost everyone in my batch. The kitchen area was transformed into a warzone with egg shells, spatulas, mixers, flour, apple skins and sugar strewn all around. It was a chaotic night with visitors streaming in every hour (thank goodness i baked enough cake to go around).
Here is a big thank you to Sel who helped with the creaming and Ed who decided to make himself useful by slicing a few apples for the top layering. And of course, to the 2 dedicated Valeebelly photographers who unfailingly turns up every Friday and work in unbearable (I have a super warm kitchen la, I don't know why.think the heating is screwed up) + unprofessional environment (JS and CY every Friday: "how how?you cannot blame us. we have no reflector. no lighting. and change your bulb to white light la! yellow light sucks. and eh eh...can you please hold the lamp properly?") for food photography. Words cannot express how thankful I am to all of you=) for taking time out on a lovely Friday night to snap pictures of mediocre food made glamarous by your excellent photography skills. I think of this blog as a collaborative effort between the realms of cooking and photography art because the visual appeal of the pictures in my opinion make more of an impact than the taste itself.Hahaa.Seriously!
Alright, here's the recipe for the Apple Cake Deluxe < Ed thinks that the food featured in the RGS recipe book have very uninspirational names.
Apple Cake Deluxe
.................
150 g self-raising flour - sifted
2 level tsp dried yeast
250 g butter
125 g caster sugar
4 eggs - beaten
1/4 lemon - juiced
1.5 green apple - peeled,cored,sliced thinly
topping: 2 tsp caster sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon
Over shelf: Middle
Oven temp: 150 C
Baking time: 45-50 minutes
1. Grease and line 22 cm square baking tin
2. Prepare apple. Store them in salted water (so that they won't turn brown!)
3. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy
4. Gradually add beaten eggs. Beat well after each addition to prevent curdling
5. Add and fold in flour, yeast and lemon juice and mix to soft dropping consistency
6. Pour into prepared cake tin. Line apples neatly on top and sprinkle topping.
7. Bake till golden brown
It's that simple!
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