You will need 3 eggs 200 + 50 grams of sugar 250 grams and a bit more of flour 150 grams of potato starch (fecola di patate, you can probably substitute it with corn starch or just use more flour) 100 grams and a bit more of butter 1 dose of baking powder (at home we use "lievito paneangeli", some expat may know wether there is anything similar to that in the Usa) 1 kg apples (usually we use renette apples) Raisins Cognac or brandy 15 amaretti (the hard ones that you can buy at the supermarket, they must be crumbled) 1 pinch of salt 1 pinch of cinnamon powder Some grated lemon peel, if you like it Some vainille flavor (or, better, substitute some sugar flavored with natural vainille to the sugar above), if you like it
Soak the raisins with the cognac. Peel and clean the apples, cut them in thin slices, sprinkle them with 50 grams of sugar and a bit more of cognac. In a large bown, mix the other sugar (200 grams) the eggs and work them until they form a cream. Add 100 grams of butter (melted but not hot), the flour (except a pinch that you will need afterwards) and the starch. Add the salt, the raisins woith their cognac, lemon and/or vainille if you like them, and the baking powder. Smear the baking pan with the leftover butter and sprinkle it with the flour you kept apart. Pour half the mixture into the pan, than cover it with the apples the crumbled amaretti. Cover with the other half of the mixture. Bake at 200-220°C for 45 minutes. The apples will keep the middle section of the cake quite moist. You can serve it as it is or cover it with "zucchero al velo". It is not supposed to turn out very decorative, so this recipe could fit Cristina ^____^.
And thank anyone for the fried green tomatoes recipes. ^____^
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
Dyslexy hitting again: I meant Rebecca, I was thinking of Rebecca, I even checked the post just to make sure that it was Rebecca who had troubles with the looks of cakes and similar stuff. Than I wrote Cristina. 8-/
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
Alice - this sounds very similar to the apple cake recipe I make for the holidays but mine doesn't have raisins (or especially raisins soaked in cognac). I think I may have to give your recipe a shot! thanks for posting it.
quote:Originally posted by Kim: (or especially raisins soaked in cognac).
Cognac or brandy or some other spirit. Despite the presence of the alchool, the cake is fit for children too. A few spoonfuls of cognac (or whatever else) in a whole cake would not be much trouble even if it was not baked (so that the alchool evaporates leaving only the flavor behind).
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
quote:Originally posted by Alice Twain: (so that the alchool evaporates leaving only the flavor behind).
Not really. Check out O Chef They did a bit of research and found that it does not burn off as previously thought. Depends on how something is cooked and how long it is cooked for. Granted that the small amount in your recipe for an entire cake will not hurt a child or recovering alcoholic if they eat only a piece or 2 but it is important to note that some alcohol, not just the flavor, gets consumed.
quote:Originally posted by Cristina: Depends on how something is cooked and how long it is cooked for.
Baking this cake for 45 minutes, according to the tables of the O chef site (useful and interesting tables!) the alhool retained would be about the 30% of a few spoonfuls of cognac (40%)... Much less than a common cough syrups. In italy many of them contain alchool, which is a problem: despite the fact that we have a more flexible attitude towards children and alchool than most of the Americans, yet we don't think that giving a shot of a 15% alchool syrup (with sugars that add up the the alchool) is a too healthy thing for the children ^_^
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
I noticed with a smile that Alice said to reserve a pinch of flour to flour the pan. In the US my pinch was always thumb and finger only and was about 1/8th of a teaspoon. When I watched Olga cook, her pinch is thumb and all fingers and is quite a lot more, maybe 2 teaspoons.
Posts: 2774 | Location: Umbria | Registered: 13 September 2001
quote:Originally posted by decobabe: In the US my pinch was always thumb and finger only
In Italy we have two pinches: one is "pizzico" (thumb and forefinger), the other is "presa" (five fingers). in this case, you will need a "presa" (than there is a "presina": three fingers...).
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
Slow Travel Talk 
.
. He calls them the food of the devil 
. He can just pick them out.
