Apple and Almond Crown

a>I recently bought a wonderful book called "A Piece of Cake" by Leila Lindholm. It's full of really decadent cakes, breads and pastries, but the ones that caught my eye first were the yeast-based cakes. She gives a basic recipe for the dough, and then several variations of flavours and fillings. I chose to make one with apple and almond, and I loved the whole process of making the dough, then the almond paste, then finally bringing them together in this delicious cake!

I recommend buying the book, but in the mean time I will share a little taste of it below.

Apple and Almond Crown (makes two)

For the dough:

1 T cardamom pods, ground finely (or buy ready ground)

300ml milk

50g yeast

135g caster sugar

1/2 t salt

150g butter

1 egg

660-720g flour

Warm the milk with the cardamom powder until tepid (38C). Sprinkle over yeast, then add sugar, salt, butter and egg. Gradually add flour to make a silky dough (I use a kenwood mixer with a dough hook, you can just use a spoon then knead by hand). Knead gently, then cover and leave to rise for an hour.

For the Almond paste:

250g almonds

225g castor sugar

Blanch the almonds (by pouring boiling water over them, leaving the to soak and then slipping the skins off. VERY time consuming, so buy blanched or ground almonds if you're in a hurry!).

Process almonds in a food processor to a fine powder, add the sugar and process a further 5-7 minutes to make a smooth paste.

For the crowns:

1 egg, handful of slivered almonds, 200g unsalted butter, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 90g brown sugar, 200g almond paste, 2 apples.

Once dough has risen, divide in half and roll each portion on a lightly floured surface to a 20x30cm rectangle.

Mix butter, sugar, cinnamon and almond paste together until creamy. Divide filling and spread over each dough rectangle. Grate an apple over each rectangle, then roll them up like a sponge roll. You can either cook these cakes on a flat tray or in a cake tin (see photo).

Place the roll in a loop on a greased tray or cake tin. Leave to prove for 1 hour. Brush with beaten egg, then sprinkle with slivered almonds. Bake at 175C for about 20-30 minutes until golden. YUMMO!!!