The recipe has cooked apples threaded through the cake’s sweet crumbs and there are notes of butterscotch from the inclusion of light muscovado sugar.
The idea of offering it with a jug of cardamom-scented custard was as much gluttony as inspiration. Cake and custard, there’s really no arguing with that.
I also set about making a vast tangle of noodles with coconut milk, lime and shredded dark green cabbage. It is the sort of dish that I tend to prefer as a main course, as long as it is served in generous amounts.
The shredded cabbage you toss with the noodles can be the last of the winter savoys and blue-green plumes of cavolo nero or the first of the young spring varieties, whichever you are blessed with.
Noodles with cabbage and coconut
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course
1 tsp black peppercorns
1½ tsp coriander seeds
1½ tsp ground turmeric
2 limes
200g noodles
2 Tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
1 large onion peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
1 x 30g piece ginger, peeled and grated
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
150g cabbage, dark green or cavolo nero
coriander leaves, a generous handful
Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and turmeric together then toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds, in a dry, shallow pan. Finely grate the zest of one of the limes and squeeze both, then add the juice and zest to the spices.
Cook the noodles according to packet instructions, then drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a deep-sided pan, add the onion and let it soften over a moderate heat until soft and translucent. Stir the garlic and ginger into the onion. Continue cooking for a minute or so, then add the spice paste.
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to the boil. Shred the cabbage into ribbons the width of a pencil, then stir into the hot sauce. They will soften in the heat. Stir in the coriander and serve in large bowls.
Warm apple cake with cardamom custard
I use big, fat cooking apples — as sour as they come — to contrast the sweet crumb of the cake, but any apple will do. The custard can be replaced by creme fraiche or a jug of cream, if you wish.
Serves 9
For the apples:
1 large, juicy lemon
750g cooking apples
3 Tbsp caster sugar
For the crumble:
100g plain flour
75g butter
2 Tbsp demerara sugar
2 Tbsp poppyseeds
For the cake:
175g butter, softened
85g golden caster sugar
85g light muscovado sugar
80g hazelnuts, skinned
2 eggs
165g self-raising flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
a few drops of vanilla extract
For the custard:
4 egg yolks
35g sugar
10 cardamom pods
400ml full cream milk
Preheat the oven to 160degC. Line the base of a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment.
For the apples, halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into a pan. Peel and core the apples, then cut them into 3cm square pieces, and add to the lemon juice.
Place the pan over a low to moderate heat, add the sugar and 2 Tbsp of water, and bring to the boil. Immediately lower the heat, cover with a lid and leave to cook for 5-6 minutes, or until the apples begin to soften. They should be soft enough to pierce effortlessly with a skewer.
Make the crumble topping by rubbing the flour and butter together until you have coarse crumbs — use your fingers and thumb or a food processor — then stir in the sugar and set aside.
For the cake, beat the butter and sugars in a food mixer until light and pale coffee-coloured. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until golden brown, then grind quite finely using a food processor.
Break the eggs and beat them lightly with a fork, then add them to the butter and sugar, a little at a time. Fold in the hazelnuts, flour and cinnamon, then add a couple of drops of vanilla extract. Fold the apples gently into the cake mixture.
Transfer the mixture to the cake tin, scatter the crumble topping over the surface, sprinkle with the poppy seeds and bake for 60 minutes until lightly firm and pale golden brown.
To make the custard, beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy. Crack the cardamom pods with a heavy weight, extract the black seeds, then grind them to a powder. Put the milk in a pan over a moderate heat and add the cardamom. When the milk is almost boiling remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Pour the milk through a sieve into the egg mixture, then return to a clean pan. Stir over a moderate heat until the custard thickens.
— Guardian News & Media
