Apple Cake recipe crisis

Oh my mouth is watering.

Got to go and make an apple cake!

Sorry Rosie! - I'm sure it will be fine. Perhaps apple shortbread? Or apple crunch? Sounds alright to me.

My apple cake recipe that required the apple to be stwed and pureed first was so sloppy it was a disaster. Now I grate the raw apple and just stir that in and it comes out fine.

I once had an apple cake recipe that involved melting the fat and then putting all the ingredients in a screw top jar and shaking it vigorously before adding chopped apple and pouring the lot into the tin. It was delicious, but I never made it again after failing to screw the top on properly....

When it said "fold" the apple, did you try origami?

Rosiebee, I tried to make a Mary Berry chocolate cake recently - I followed the recipe to the letter. The cake was dry and the icing was similar to quick drying concrete and had to be chopped up with a big knife and sprinkled onto the cake. It was edible after dousing with golden syrup and heating in microwave for 20 seconds with Lidl vanilla ice cream.

My friend and I used to do all the cooking in a little cafe in Cornwall. One of her specialities was a super gooey chocolate and apple cake which was very popular but quite expensive to make. One day she took it out of the oven and it was just a tray full of flat brown stuff, she had forgotten the baking powder! Too expensive to throw it away so we sliced it up and sold it as a "continental" chocolate slice. Sold like hot cakes

rosiebee, just Google Dutch Apple Cake! You can't go wrong.

Reputable cookery writers test and, if necessary adjust, all their recipes before sending them to the publisher. As most cookbooks illustrate every recipe, they are then prepared for photography by a home economist following the recipe. If he/she has a problem with any cake, dish, loaf or whatever, this will be raised with the author. Unfortunately, there are some cookery writers whose recipes are notorious among other writers for their inaccuracy because they were never tested. I shall not say who they are on a pubic forum because some of them are well known and protective of the reputations.

Moral: Do not assume that you have made a mistake if a published recipe you have followed doesn't work.

absent couldn't you give us a clue or pm me with the names of the culprits who don't test the recipies. I always blame myself when things don't work out. Made a cheesecake from BBC Good Food book which claim to have triple tested every recipe. They hadn't said to whip the cream so I ended up with runny mess. I didn't trust my instinct and thought 'they' had to be right. Made Cornish pasties from Hairy Bikers and ended up with enough to feed an entire shift of tin miners not just four people. And there are so many variations, from so many cooks, that I just get confused.

grrranny Sometimes a recipe doesn't work because somewhere along the line an error has crept in. One of my Christmas pudding recipes ended up being printed without any sugar in the ingredients list – bad proof-reading on someone's part. However, if the same writer's recipes are consistent failures, then I would suggest avoiding any more books by him or her and binning the one that you already have.

absent you are right. I have too many cookery books and only about 4 or 5 I really use. One is a battered old Dairy Book of Home Cookery 1968 version and things I make from that work. Perhaps I am suckered in by all the cookery programmes and think I should be producing fantastic creations when I am not that kind of cook. Next scout jumble sale for many tomes I think.

I find chefs less relible than "cooks" - e.g. a certain chef whose language is frequently blue was responsible for a very late Easter lunch one year because of his lamb timings. I like my lamb pink, but not still bleating. Nuff said.

A thought - many many years ago my MIL decided to try to bake her MIL's Christmas cake. Being of that generation, the recipe was brief as one was supposed to know basic baking things in those days. Anyway, she could find no reference to the quantity of flour required so consulted her DH. His reply (and now I know why my DH always has an opinion, if not necessarily the right one) was "If my mother says there is no flour in the recipe, then there is no flour in the recipe"
The resulting black, gooey mess of dried fruit and treacle became a family legend.

Sounds delicious, gracesmum

gracesmum I can hear that pronouncement and poor MiL believing it.

I am not sure she believed it, but she was a wonderfully diplomatic lady and might have guessed that Mr (Always) Right would not believe her unless he saw the result with his own eyes. I could have learned so much from my dear MIL when it comes to handling men people.

OMG I have just noticed that I typed pubic forum in one of my posts. Apologies. Of course, I meant pulbic.

Oh absent that's priceless! From pubic to pulbic

Anyone remember the lovely silent film from the late 60's "A Home of Your Own"? I think it was Bernard Cribbins who played the stone mason carving an inscription ready for the grand opening. After working for days he found he had carved "Erected by Pubic Subscription"

Well it came out of the oven looking good and smelling delish. Had to pour a mix of honey and demerara over top, popped this mix in microwave to soften as it was impossible to spread over warm cake. Wrapped it tight in foil when cold and left it for a day. had a slice last night and believe it or not, it was yummy. Moist and very appley -is that a word? Will cut remains in half and freeze. Might try warming some slightly in microwave and serving as a pud with low fat creme fraiche for me and custard for DH.
I'd try the recipe again but twiddle with it next time.

Just defrosted the other half of the apple cake. Going to have it after tea, maybe warmed through a bit. It's looking very sticky. Don't know if I can wait until after tea.

Well, you've been very self restrained! I would have eaten it frozen it by now.

Enjoy.