Toffee Apple Hazelnut Cake
A light fruity sponge made with wholemeal flour, ground hazelnuts and apples which is topped with roasted hazelnuts and drizzled with a delightful smoky salted toffee sauce. Perfect Bonfire Night fare.
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 415kcal
Ingredients
Smoky Salted Toffee Sauce
- 100 g golden caster sugar
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 75 unsalted butter
- 1 tsp smoked sea salt (or just use sea salt)
- 125 ml double cream (heavy cream)
Cake
- 180 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 100 g light muscovado sugar
- 100 g golden caster sugar
- 3 large eggs (duck eggs are particularly good)
- 175 g golden wholemeal flour (or half wholemeal flour and half white flour)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 100 g hazelnuts 75g freshly ground and 25g roasted and roughly chopped
- 2 cooking apples weighing roughly 400g (14oz) - peeled, cored and diced to roughly 1 cm (½ inch) square
- 100 g kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt (you can make your own sour milk by adding 1 tsp vinegar to milk and leaving for a few minutes).
- 1 Cox’s Orange Pippin or other tart dessert apple – cored but not peeled, then finely sliced
Instructions
Smoky Salted Toffee Sauce
- Pour the sugar into a medium to large saucepan and place over a medium heat.100 g golden caster sugar
- Add the golden syrup and leave for a few minutes until the sugar has melted and turned a light brown colour.1 tbsp golden syrup
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Be careful as it might spit.75 unsalted butter
- Return the mixture to the heat and simmer for a minute.
- Add the cream and salt, stir and allow to cook for a further minute. Take off the heat and allow to cool.1 tsp smoked sea salt, 125 ml double cream (heavy cream)
Cake
- Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.180 g unsalted butter, 100 g light muscovado sugar, 100 g golden caster sugar
- Beat in the eggs one by one, adding a little of the flour in between each one if the mixture curdles.3 large eggs
- Sieve in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add the ground hazelnuts and stir until just mixed.175 g golden wholemeal flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- Stir in the apple pieces followed by the buttermilk until everything is just mixed.2 cooking apples, 100 g kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt
- Spoon into a 23cm round silicon cake mould or lined baking tin.
- Arrange the unpeeled apple slices over the top, then drizzle with 4 tbsp of the toffee sauce.1 Cox’s Orange Pippin
- Bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 40 minutes or until the cake is well risen and firm to the touch and an inserted skewer comes out more or less clean.
- Leave to cool in the mould or tin, then transfer onto a serving plate.
- Drizzle with 3-4 tbsp of the toffee sauce, then scatter the roasted hazelnuts over the top.
Notes
Serve warm for dessert with the rest of the toffee sauce, if desired.
Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.
Nutrition
Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 62mg | Potassium: 245mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 702IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 1mg