Recipe and images extracted from Clean Cakes by Henrietta Inman, photography by Lisa Linder. Published by Jacqui Small (£20).
Blackberry and apple cinnamon crumble cake
I love slicing this cake in front of friends, each piece revealing the white apple slices dyed by the purple blackberry juices, listening to the satisfied 'oohs' and 'aahs' as people delve into the three layers of crunchy crumble topping, sweet fruit and deliciously gooey cake. It is warming, comforting, wholefood at its best.
Serves 8-10
120 g (4¼ oz/1â…› cups) walnuts, preferably activated dried
1 tbsp milled flax seeds
3 tbsp filtered water
100 g (3½ oz/1 cup less 2 tbsp) ground almonds (almond meal)
70 g (2½ oz/½ cup) chestnut flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
½ tsp Himalayan pink salt
Zest of ½ lemon
60 g (2 oz/¼ cup) easy apple purée (see below)
80 g (2¾ oz/¼ cup) maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 ml (1¾ fl oz/scant ¼ cup) EVCP rapeseed oil, plus extra for greasing
2 dessert apples such as Cox or Granny Smith (250-300 g (8¾-10½ oz) total weight)
250 g (8¾ oz/2½ cups) blackberries, fresh or frozen
Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Line the bottom of an 18-20 cm
(7-8 inch) loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment and grease the sides with a little oil. Place the walnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 5-8 minutes until beginning to colour. Leave to cool. Finely chop 80 g (2¾ oz/¾ cup) and set aside the remaining walnuts.
Combine the milled flax seeds with the water and leave for 15 minutes to form a gel, stirring occasionally. In a large bowl, mix together the finely chopped walnuts, ground almonds (almond meal), chestnut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), salt and lemon zest. Make a well in the centre and add the flax gel, apple purée, maple syrup, vanilla extract and oil and mix to combine.
Divide the mix equally in two, place half the mix in the cake tin and spread it out with a palette knife (frosting spatula). It should be about 1 cm (â…" inch) deep and weigh about 250 g (8¾ oz). Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Spread them over the cake mix, overlapping them in a circle, followed by the blackberries and top with the rest of the cake mix. The mix will be sticky so use your fingers to dab small bits of the mix over the blackberries. It doesn't matter if some berries are still showing, but try to cover most of them.
Sprinkle the remaining walnuts over the top of the cake, breaking them up roughly between your fingers as you do so. Press them into the cake mix slightly. Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through baking. It is ready when the top is firm to touch and a rich golden brown, the nuts will be well toasted and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out almost clean. If the top is looking a bit too dark, turn down the oven to 160°C/310°F/Gas Mark 2½ for the last 10-15 minutes.
Serve warm with an extra dusting of cinnamon if you like and natural yogurt. This is best easten fresh but will keep for up to five days in a sealed container in the fridge.
NOTE Sliced pears make good replacements for the apple.
EASY APPLE PURÉE RECIPE
Quick and extremely simple to make - no peeling or coring is required - the end product is a great addition to a Clean Cakes kitchen. Apple purée not only adds a natural low-GI fibre-full sweetener to your cakes, it also adds moisture and helps create a wonderfully soft texture. Any well-flavoured sweet apples will work, but cooking times vary with different apples, so keep an eye on them. Decrease or increase the amount as you wish.
Makes about 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz/4 cups)
12 apples (each 120-140 g/4¼-5 oz), I like Cox's
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Wash and dry the apples then cut into quarters. Place on a baking tray and bake until soft, about 20-30 minutes. Leave to cool and do not discard the liquids. In a blender, blend the cooked apples and juices until a smooth, sweet, thick purée. Either use immediately, keep in the fridge for up to five days or freeze in batches in glass jars.
Recipe and images extracted from Clean Cakes by Henrietta Inman, photography by Lisa Linder. Published by Jacqui Small (£20)