An incredibly easy and delicious layered apple cake without egg or dairy – another one of the many incredibly inventive dishes made for periods of fasting in the Orthodox faith but one which I tend to make and enjoy all year round.

For me, this cake was a way of easing myself into baking when I first started becoming very serious about cooking and baking. Even now, after years of baking, this is still one of my favourite cakes. It takes minutes to put together (useful for surprise guests) and is a perfect way to use up a glut of apples.  

PrintPrint

Ingredients

  • 150g fine semolina (or quick cook semolina)

  • 100g self-raising flour

  • 1 tsp (level) baking powder

  • 50g ground almonds or walnuts

  • 100g caster sugar

  • 600g grated apple (from 8-10 apples), reserving any apple juice from grating

  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1 tbsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

  • 75ml sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing

  • Icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

PrintPrint

Directions

  • Preheat your oven to 200C fan/220C/Gas 7.
  • Sift the semolina, flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the ground nuts and sugar and mix well to combine.
  • In a separate large bowl, add the grated apple (and all the reserved apple juice from grating – if your apples are dry, add 50ml apple juice), the cinnamon, vanilla, lemon zest, and 60ml of the sunflower oil and mix well.
  • Line a deep sided baking dish (approximately 20 x 32cm) with baking parchment and grease it well with sunflower oil (the baking parchment will allow you to lift the cake out easily). Next start layering as follows: one third of the dry semolina mixture at the base, followed by one third of the apple mixture spread evenly over the dry mixture. Repeat two more times, finishing with an apple layer on top. Drizzle the remaining 15ml of sunflower oil on top. Press everything down well with a fork so you have a flat top surface.
  • Bake at 200C (fan) for 20 minutes, then turn your oven down to 170C (fan), cover the baking dish with foil and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until the top is a deep golden brown and the semolina and flour are cooked through. Leave to cool in the baking dish then lift the cake out. Slice into shapes and sizes of your choice. Dust with icing sugar before serving. Enjoy!