Apple Crumb Cake

In case you were wondering, I am still alive :) I?ve had no Internet at home for over a week however (no it?s not global crisis or heavy snowfalls, it?s just? the situation). That?s the main reason why I haven?t written anything for so long again. As a kind of compensation for being offline on evenings, I?ve received my first Bon Appetit issue!! Yay! I couldn?t imagine they?d ship it to Latvia, but they did! The magazine arrived via Switzerland. I can?t wait to read every article in it!

My 26th birthday was nice. First I celebrated it at home, with family, and then we had a small birthday party with friends, also at home. I did make those Italian cookies with white wine, as well as quesadillas with sweet corn, red beans and garlic (I?m afraid I overcooked the tortillas though) for my friends, but I was stupid enough to forget my camera at my parents? so I never took any photos. The cookies were extremely easy to make ? all you have to do is combine the ingredients and form little rings of pastry. Tortillas were a little more of a challenge. The main problem was that the tortillas came out a little bit too chewy; I kept them under a wet towel as recommended, but I still had to sprinkle some water on them before baking the folded quesadillas. So this was my first experience with home-made tortillas!

And this apple cake is yet another easy recipe from our family. All you need is some patience while you chop the chilled margarine mixed with flour, turning it into tender creamy crumbles. A great alternative to apple filling is good cottage cheese blended with sugar and vanilla. This is my favourite variation of the cake. Cottage cheese slightly melts while baking, which makes the crust extremely moist, I would even say juicy.

Store the cake in a cool place, covered with a towel or baking paper, and it will be just as good even three days later.

Ingredients

400g wheat flour

250g margarine, chilled

8 sweet apples

150g sour cream

3 tsp+6 tsp sugar

Cinnamon to taste

Roughly chop margarine and add flour. Keep on chopping margarine with a knife, rolling the pieces of margarine in flour. When you feel like the pieces are too small to cut them with a knife, continue crumbling them with your hands, so that every crumb is covered with flour. Put the mix into refrigerator for a couple of minutes if the margarine starts to melt. Stop when you have a whole bowl of fine dry crumbs that don?t stick to your hands.

Peel the apples and grate them coarsely. Drain off any excess juice.

In a separate small bowl, combine sour cream and 6 teaspoons sugar. Add cinnamon (I skip this step as I?m not a big fan of cinnamon lately).

Place a layer of crumbs into your baking pan (use a little bit more than ½ of the crumbs) and spread grated apples over them. Sprinkle the apples with 3 teaspoons sugar (or more if your apples are sour). Pour the sweetened sour cream over the apples and top with remaining crumbs. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of your cake (optionally).

Bake on a medium heat for approximately 30 minutes.