Apple Kuchen

The first Apple Streuselkuchen I made was more than a year ago.  It had a streusel topping and the dough was made in the bread machine. The dough was so fluffy and soft, and between both my daughter and myself, we finished half the loaf! So when I saw a recipe of Nigella's for Apple Kuchen, I knew that I wanted to try her version, which does not have a streusel but a topping of flaked almonds instead.

Just like all of Nigella's recipes, this is a winner!

I use about 2-1/2 medium Granny Smith apples.

Nigella mentioned that the dough can be mixed in the stand mixer or by hand. I chose to knead the dough by hand. 

1. Flour is mixed with salt, sugar and yeast. I use 2-1/4 cups of flour at the beginning, as recommended in the recipe, adding more later, if necessary.

2. The eggs are lightly beaten and mix into the lukewarm milk, together with vanilla, orange zest (original calls for lemon zest, which I do not have), and freshy grated nutmeg, stir to combine.

3. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir to combine. 

1. Add in the softened butter and knead to a dough,

2. I find that the dough is really wet

3. I then added in 1/4 cup of flour at a time, in total I used almost 3 cups of flour.

1.Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until they are smooth.

2. Cover loosely with an oiled cling wrap and leave to rise for about 1 to 1-1/4 hours until doubled in size.

3. Punch down the risen dough.

1. Spread the dough into the greased pan, size 12 x 8 inches, covering the base. Leave to rise for about 15-20 minutes. It will puff up a little. Brush the top of the dough with a mixture of beaten egg, freshly grated nutmeg and a little cream (I use milk).
2.Cover the dough with the chopped apples, and sprinkle the apples with a mixture of sugar and all-spice (I use ground cinnamon). Scatter some flaked almonds all over. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, turn down temperature to 350F and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked.
3. Make the icing, stir together the confectioners' sugar and hot water. Drizzle icing all over the top. Then slice and .....

..... enjoy with a cup of coffee! This is so good! The bread is so soft and fluffy! Even with the icing, this cake is not sweet at all, just perfect! The apples has not gone totally soft, but has a light crunch which is so good with the crunchy fragrant almonds! 

Can you see the softness and fluffiness of the bread?

Yum! I had a big piece with a cup of coffee and later, another piece with a cup of tea! Great with both coffee or tea!

I'm sharing this with the following :

~ Twelve Loaves, where the theme for August is "Bread With Summer Fruit" hosted by Cake Duchess, Lifes' a feast and Parsley, Sage and Sweet

~ Bake Your Own Bread (BYOB) hosted by Girlichef, Delectable Musings and My Discovery of Bread
~ Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Apple Kuchen
(adapted from "How To Be A Domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson)
Swiss-roll pan or rectangular baking dish approximately 12x8 inches
Serves 8
for the dough :
2-1/4 - 3 cups white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of 1/2 a lemon (I use grated zest from 1 orange)
good grating fresh nutmeg
1/2 cup milk, lukewarm
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

for the topping :
2 Granny Smith apples
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cream (I use milk)
grating of fresh nutmeg
1 tablespoon demerara or turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon allspice (I use 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

for the icing :
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon hot water

Put 2-1/4 cups of the flour in a bowl with the salt, sugar, and yeast. Beat the eggs and add them, with the vanilla, lemon zest, and nutmeg, to the lukewarm milk. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, to make a medium-soft dough, being prepared to add more flour as necessary. I generally use about 2-2/3 cups, but advise you to start off with the smaller amount; just add more as needed. Work in the soft butter and knead by hand for about 10 minutes or half that time by machine. When the dough is ready it will appear smoother, and springier. It suddenly seems to plump up into glossy life.

Cover with a tea towel and leave till doubled (1 to 1-1/4 hours), or leave to rise slowly in a cold place overnight. Then punch down and press to line the pan. You may think it's never going to stretch to fill, but let it rest for 10 minutes or so mid-stretch, especially if the dough had a cold rise. When it's pressed out on the pan, leave it to rise for 15-20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel and core the apples and chop them finely; I use a processor but there's really no need. And you could use other apples, too, if your prefer; whatever you've got to hand; cooking apples can easily be substituted and are better if you want a pulpier covering.

When the dough's ready, beat the egg with the cream, grate over a little nutmeg and brush the top of the dough with this mixture. Cover the egg-glazed dough with the apples, then mix together the sugars and allspice and sprinkle over. Top with the flaked almonds and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Then turn down to 350F and cook for a further 15 minutes or so, until the dough is swelling and golden at the edges and cooked within.

Remove from the oven and make a runny paste with the sifted confectioners' sugar and the hot water. Spoon or trickle over the cake.

Leave to cool for about 15 minutes, then slice it, and eat while it's still warm and juicily, stickily fragrant.