Nigella's Damp Apple & Almond Cake

Nigella’s Damp Apple & Almond Cake
From Nigella Lawson Feast
(This was in the Passover section of the book - no flour, but honestly, I'd serve it any time!)

Prep time: 30 minutes (much of that is letting the apple puree cool)
Baking time: 45 minutes (or until the toothpick comes out clean)

Ingredients:
Apple Puree:
3 tart eating apples (if the apples are sweet, just add more lemon juice to tang them up)
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 tsp castor sugar ( also called “super fine”, fructose, fruit sugar – it’s much finer than granulated but not as fine as icing or powdered sugar)
Cake:
8 eggs
325 g/ 12 oz ground almonds
275g (1½ cups) castor sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice (I just used ½ a lemon)
50g (¾ cup) sliced almonds

Directions:

Apple Puree:
1. Peel, core and coarsely chop the apples. Put them in a medium saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. The apples should be very soft and easy to mash with a wooden spoon or fork.

2. Allow the apple puree to cool before making the cake batter.

Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and prepare a 10” spring form pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper and greasing the sides with butter or cooking spray.

2. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade add the cooled apple puree and all the other ingredients EXCEPT the sliced almonds. Process until blended.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the sliced almonds.

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is crispy & golden and the toothpick test in the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top browns too quickly, Nigella suggests loosely covering the cake in the oven with foil until the toothpick test comes out clean.

5. Cool in the pan on a cake rack for 5 minutes before opening the spring. Nigella suggests serving this warm and when you do, it tastes like cheesecake. Cold works fine too!

To dress it up at the table, sift some icing sugar over top.

Related links: Food and Drink Easy Cooking recipes cake Passover