Cake Slice Bakers: Cheddar Cheese and Apple Cake

I read the name of this cake and thought it was just craziness; the product of a recipe writer who's cracked under the pressure of cake.

Yum yum! Also, that's the hand of a 21 YEAR OLD. uuuuuuugh.......

So I told people at school about it and they were all, "Oh, you should try cheese on slices of apple" and I was all, "Yes, I know of that combination but this is a cake" and they were like "Oh, you should try cheese with grapes" and I was all, "Fine. I'll make it." And they were all, "Oh, you should try marmite and apple" and I was like, "uuum" and someone was all, "you should try peanut butter and cheese!" and I was just like, "No."

So I made it and it was surprisingly good! It was pleasantly sweet with a nice tang and not full of melted cheese like I'd subconsciously imagined. A good word for it might be refreshing... It had a nice texture too so all in all, a nice cake.

Sad stuff now:

No. 1 - To share this cake with those cheese/pear/grapes/etc. fans, I cleverly protected it from my feline housemates by wrapping it up in three layers of clingfilm. Which of course they very cleverly ripped off in the dead of night for the sole purpose of licking all the icing sugar off the top.

Can't prove it but here's the suspected Cake Licker. I'm watching him...

No. 2 - this is my last CSBers post :( I've already gone through the new book they're going to bake from so I'm not so keen on going through it again. Good luck and happy baking to the continuing, and new, CSBers! You've been fabulous to bake with and I know where you are online now :)

Cheddar Cheese and Apple Cake
Adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking cornmeal/polenta
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4oz unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
6 tablespoons milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 large tart apple (I used a Granny Smith), peeled, cored and cut into 1cm (or 1/4inch) dice

Preheat oven to 175C/350F. Grease and dust a 9inch round cake pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Thoroughly mix in eggs, one at a time. Stir in half of the flour until just mixed in. Stir in milk. Stir in rest of flour until just incorporated. Carefully stir in cheese and apple.

Pour into prepared pan, smooth top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes then cool completely, right way up, on a wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Store cake away from sneaky cats in a sealed container at room temp for up to two days.

kaffir lime chiffon cake

Ever seen a kaffir lime? Well, I hadn’t until a month ago.

kaffir limes

Ever seen a chiffon cake tin? Well, I hadn’t until yesterday!



this cake tin has feet!

The flavour of this cake was limey but it was also a little bitter sometimes – I think it was the fact that kaffir limes have little lumps on their skin and when I zested them, I got more pith I would have than with a normal lime.

Chiffon tins, when turned onto their wee feet, ensure that the light cakes they hold don’t collapse in on themselves. Well, that’s the theory.

This was my first time using a chiffon tin and as documented in these pictures, it was a flop! The cake rose and browned on top beautifully but when I pulled it out, managing to turn it upside down at the same time, it ripped itself from the sides of the tin and fell out onto the table I’d rested the tin’s feet on. Aaargh!

I have no idea why it happened because I followed the directions quite carefully and I had strict instructions on how to use the tin... Well, I can’t wait to see my fellow Cake Slice Baker’s cakes so I can see if they had similar problems. I hope it wasn't the recipe we used (by Lauren Chattman) because that’d be so disappointing...

It's even more of a pity because the texture of the cake was amazingly soft and tender :)

cake slice bakers:orange almond caramel upside-down cake

First post! This cake is a nice homey kind of cake; buttery, orangey and with a nice soft crumb. All good in my book! 



breakfast slice

I made it quite late at night at my mum's house so I had to take photos of it (literally) at the crack of dawn before I drove home. I took a couple slices for myself and then left the rest with my mum. And here's the message she sent me the next day: "Toothbrush. Your cake is really delicious today. Crunchy n sticky on top n dense n flavourful on bottom. Yum. Xx". So there you have it from my taste tester! Anyhow, because the photos are so terrible, I've included a few photos of the gorgeous animals I live with.

we're getting to know each other... I haven't petted her yet but she's eaten apples out of my hand. one day. one day.

Can't wait for next month's CSB because we're baking TWO cakes ho ho ho!

why is shortness so adorable?!?! eeee!

Check out the CSB blogroll to get the recipe (I reduced the almonds from 1 cup to 3/4cup becuase 1 cup was just way too much).