Spiced Whole grain Apple cake with streusel topping

8:48 PM

Sometimes the things you do on a whim turns out to be the best. for this very special reason I value my whim a lot. Its not everyday that it nudges my senses and makes me do something but when it does I know am in for a surprise.

If you look closely you will see a close association between whim and being inspired. You see, feel, remember or experience some form of beauty that inspires your inner self to act, to perform to create something that brings in joy. Its a special kind of itch that makes you restless. Something that does not let you be in peace unless and untill you get your lazy bum off the couch and act.

Personally I get inspired a lot by my friends and am lucky to have really talented kind hearted people around me. Its good to be surrounded by them and get a source of inspiration. They create, they donate, they send gifts and makes my little heart content with joy.

and now that the temperature has dropped quite a few degrees the promise of a cooler weather makes me happy. So happy that I crochetted this little neck warmer for a loving sister of mine. I made the same thing last year for another very pretty girl who is a new mom right now. My sis liked it so much that she wanted the same color. So I made it and with the leftover wools I have plans to make little booties for my daughter. She needs some pretty things for her aunt's wedding this month.

This cake was totally baked on a whim too. It was a quite Sunday evening last month and while husband and sonny boy were both asleep I craved a spiced apple cake. The kind I used to have with my evening coffee in Japan. Soft, buttery, cinnamon-y...the kind that warms you up from inside. It was so impulse that I literally threw things together to my basic cake batter. But it turned out moist and delicious especially the crumbly, buttery streusel topping on top. We loved how it make our house smell like fall at your part of the World and later we enjoyed it with our cup of coffees.

Spiced Whole grain Apple cake with streusel topping

(Makes one 6" cake/ 12 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour (atta): 3/4 cup

All purpose flour or Maida: 1/4 cup

Baking powder: 1/2 tsp

Baking soda: 1/4 tsp

Nutmeg powder: 1/4 tsp (see note below)

Ginger powder: 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon Powder:1/4 tsp+1/4 tsp

Brown Sugar: 3/4 cup (I use granulated sugar which I measured and then powdered)

Egg: 1 large

Butter: 6 tbsp (room temperature)

Apple: 1 big

Raisins; handful (optional but my kid loves it)see notes

For the streusel topping:

Oats: 2 tbsp

Brown sugar: 2 tbsp

Cinnamon: 1/4 tsp

Chilled butter: 2 tbsp

Melon seeds: 2 tbsp

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180C. Line and grase a 7" baking pan. Preferably use a loose bottom or spring form tin.

Or keep a 12 cavity muffin pan ready with muffin liners.

Sieve the flours, baking soda, baking powder and mix in the spice powders properly.

Peel and make a puree of the apple with 1/4 tsp cinnamon. keep aside.

In a big pan start whisking the butter and powdered sugar till pale and fluffy (5-6 minutes by hand).

Break in the egg and incorporate. Add half of the flour mixture and using a spatula fold in carefully. Tip in the pureed apple and fold. finally mix in all the flour and fold to incorporate everything together.

To make the streusel topping mix the dry ingredients together in a pan and put the chilled butter on top. Using a pastry cutter or a fork cut the butter in the sugar-oats mixture. use your finger tip rub them together.

Pour the batter in the prepared tin and top with the streusel topping. Bake for 30-40 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For muffins divide the batter and pour in the muffin moulds and top with the topping. Bake for 15-20 minutes. do the toothpick taste at 15 minutes as muffins could go dry very quickly.

Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and carefully take it out.

Serve immediately with tea or coffee.