Baking with Kids
Spiced Toffee Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 330g Kerrygold Pure Irish Unsalted Butter
- 400g brown sugar
- 4 eggs (M)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 460g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 165ml buttermilk
- 200g grated apple
- 200g chopped pecans
- For the spiced buttercream:
- 350g Kerrygold Pure Irish Unsalted Butter
- 350g icing sugar
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- A dash of vanilla essence
- 200g chopped pecans (keep aside 100g for decorating)
- For the toffee apples:
- 5 small eating apples
- 200g caster sugar
- 50ml water
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 1/2 tsp vinegar
Directions
Shane Smith's spiced toffee apple cake serves 10-12.
- Preheat your oven to 180C fan. Line the base of two 7” loose bottom cake tins, grease and dust the base and sides.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the Kerrygold Unsalted Butter, brown sugar and vanilla until soft and creamy.
- Gradually add in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down between each addition.
- Add in the sieved flour and spices and mix.
- Next, add the buttermilk and mix.
- Finally, add the grated apples and 100g of chopped pecans and mix through.
- Divide this cake batter in between the two prepared tins and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour.
- Once baked, remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins before removing completely and putting on a wire rack to cool.
- While the cake is cooling, time to make the toffee apples.
- Give your apples a good wash in hot water to remove any wax coating, this will help the caramel to stick better. Try and use small eating apples as they look nicer on the cake and are easier to dip.
- Remove any stalks and insert a wooden skewer or lollipop stick and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Into a heavy based saucepan, add the sugar and water and place over a medium/low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Next, add the vinegar and golden syrup and turn up the heat slightly.
- Cook the sugar mixture until it reaches 150C (hard crack) on a sugar thermometer.
- At this point, very carefully dip and roll the prepared apples in the hot caramel and place back on the lined tray. If you find the caramel is cooling too much and beginning to thicken, place back on the heat to soften. These apples can be prepared a day in advance and left somewhere cool.
- For the spiced buttercream filling, cream the Kerrygold Unsalted Butter, icing sugar, mixed spice and vanilla in a bowl until its soft and creamy.
- Cut each sponge in half lengthways and spread a layer of buttercream in between each one.
- Cover the outside of the cake with the remaining buttercream.
- To serve, pop some of the toffee apples on top and sprinkle the remaining 100g of chopped pecan around the edge and enjoy!
