A cake to make me less narky: Barefoot Contessa's Apple Spice Cake

So, I am justifying the inclusion of this truly wonderful cake into my ‘do things better’ agenda for the following reasons: It has apple in it, so surely must be one of my five a day. It is made with vegetable oil and not butter so that has to make it a ‘better’ cake, whatever that is. It is packed with spices and of course they have oodles of medicinal qualities, and lastly, a bit of what you fancy does you good, and the opportunity to sit down with a slice of this with a cuppa turns a narky Stella into a less narky one. Only one slice mind…

If you want a really really reliable, decadent, frankly scrumptious cake, you open a Barefoot Contessa book and turn to the section marked ‘desserts’. There you will find cake heaven. And it was in her ‘Make it Ahead’ cookery book that I found this. Don’t be put off by the amount of spices; go buy them if you haven’t got them because you will be making this cake more than once. I promise.

I very rarely alter a Barefoot Contessa recipe because they are usually perfect. However, I have made a couple of alterations, mainly due to the fact that I didn’t have any golden raisins, but I did have some pretty jewel like sultanas which did the job just nicely. I also didn’t have the exact size pan as indicated in the recipe, so I split the mixture between two smaller pans.

If you don’t fancy my chosen way of eating this, with a cuppa, then serve some slightly warm with some ice cream. And swoon…

APPLE SPICE CAKE from ‘Make It Ahead’ by Ina Garten

serves 12

An American recipe, so uses cup measurements (which I quite like…)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup rum

1 cup golden raisins (I used sultanas)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown (Muscavado) sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp grated orange zest

2 1/2 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

3 (large) to 4 (small) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and 1/4 inch diced

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x13x2 inch baking pan, or a pan(s) that will take the amount of mixture.

Toast the pecans on a baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes. Watch the nuts like a hawk. They burn in the blink of an eye. Set aside.

Add the rum and raisins to a microwave-safe bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap; microwave for 1 minute, then set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, and orange zest on medium speed.

Once combined, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves; mix until smooth. The batter will be very thick.

Drain the raisins before adding them to the batter. Drink the rum.

Add the apples and pecans too, then use a rubber spatula to fold them all into the batter.

Spread this batter in your prepared pan, smoothing it out.

Bake the cake for 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let the cake cool until it’s barely warm or room temperature before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Slightly tropical - Barefoot Contessa Hummingbird Cake

I know I am deluding myself but I am trying to desperately to justify the making and devouring of this cake as an act of healthy eating, being that it is made with oil and packed with fruit and nuts, and it's a nice idea but I know the truth. However, I am sure that in the midst of anybody's healthy eating plan there is a room for a smidgen of this cake which is wondrously tasty and moist and not hideously bad for the diet in the grand scheme of things.

Striving for good health (!), I elected not to cover the whole cake in cream cheese frosting and merely sandwiched the cakes together and then swirled some frosting on top. I don't think it needs to be covered, and as with all Barefoot Contessa recipes, the quantities in my mind are quite generous.

This is a lovely, easy cake to make, the only faff in my mind being the initial roasting of the pecan nuts before they are chopped and added to the cake. Yes, it's faff, but it makes the house smell good and I have never had a warm, roasted pecan nut before. To be honest it is a wonder that any of them made it into the cake.

I am a big fan of Ina Garten's recipes. In my experience they have always turned out well, and are enough to feed hordes of people. This cake is no exception and luckily there is enough left for the inevitable second helping.

Hummingbird Cake adapted from Barefoot Contessa

(American recipe - therefore uses cup measurements)

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, for greasing
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (plain flour) plus more for dusting
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 3 ripe bananas, chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple (though I used tinned)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups caster sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil

For the frosting (I halved the quantity listed here)

• 2 packages cream cheese (8 ounces each), at room temperature
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and dust with flour.

Beat the eggs and caster sugar in a separate bowl with a mixer on high speed until thick and light, 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the vegetable oil.

Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until fragrant and toasted, about 8 minutes. Let cool slightly, then roughly chop. Toss with the bananas, pineapple and 1/2 cup flour in a small bowl.

Whisk the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg mixture, then gently fold to make a thick batter. Fold in the pecan-fruit mixture, then transfer the batter to the prepared pans.

Bake until the cakes are firm and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pans on a rack, 25 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the rack to cool completely. My cakes did dome so I trimmed the tops to try to get them flat. Schoolboy error!

Make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer until fluffy, then gradually beat in the butter until combined. Sift the confectioners' sugar over the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Add the lemon zest and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread about half of the frosting on top, then cover with the other cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, or as I did with hlaf the quantity of frosting, just swirl some on top.

Enjoy!