Jess Dennison’s rosemary and apple cake
Jess Dennison, the talented cook of Elliotts in Edinburgh, has written a brand-new cookbook. It’s an absolute triumph that celebrates her favourite midweek meals. Simple, tasty and down-to-earth cooking for any time of the week really, Jess’s Midweek Recipes is out now and we’re lucky enough to have a recipe to share with you. This cake might sound involved but it’s simple enough to bake midweek.
From Jess: ‘I shared this recipe on Instagram last autumn, and it’s been the most recreated recipe that I’ve ever written, so I thought it would be lovely to include in print as it’s so simple to bake, even midweek. Browning the butter with rosemary doesn’t make the cake ‘soapy’ at all, so please don’t be scared, you just get this incredibly fragrant sponge that complements the apples and almonds beautifully.‘
INGREDIENTS
Serves 8
- 6 sprigs rosemary
- 200g salted butter
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 225g soft brown sugar
- 2 free-range eggs
- (3 tbsp rum, optional)
- 300g cooking apples, peeled and cored
- 50g flaked almonds
METHOD
- Place the rosemary and butter in a pan, then heat on medium for 4–5 minutes, stirring regularly. You’re looking for the butter to foam up and turn golden before turning dark brown. A few dark specks will appear and sit on the base of the pan and it’ll smell really nutty. Drain through a fine sieve, discarding the rosemary, then allow to cool gently. It doesn’t matter if the odd bit of rosemary is still in the butter.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F/gas 3). Lightly grease a deep 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.
- Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, rum (if using) into a bowl and add the melted-but-slightly-cooled butter. Mix well with a wooden spoon until completely combined. It’ll feel very thick for a cake batter, but this is correct – don’t worry.
- Spread half of this mixture in the prepared tin. Thickly slice the apples and lay on top of the mixture in the tin, piling mostly towards the centre. Spoon the remaining mixture over the apples. This is an awkward thing to do, but just make sure that the mixture covers the centre well as it will spread out in the oven.
- Sprinkle with the almonds and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour until golden and coming away from the sides of the tin.
Jess Elliot Dennison’s new book Midweek Recipes is out now, you can order it here. Image is Jess’s own from the book.
