Winter in Piedmont means that the local farmer’s market is full of apples grown in the rolling hills which surround Mondovi. And that means I have no choice other than to make torta de mela or Italian apple cake! This recipe is adapted from one I found elsewhere with the main difference being that I have added even more apple relative to the dry ingredients, butter and eggs. The result is a cake that is delicious, soft and moist with a light citrusy kick and almost too many apples for the amount of batter. So it definately counts as one of your five portions of fuit and veg a day! I also replaced the vanilla with cinammon and nutmeg which are an absolute must with apples in my view and which fill the kitchen with an incredible smell. Bon appetito!

Ingredients

4-5 large apples, peeled
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted  
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Splash of milk or water to mix

Method

Preheat the oven to 375F and line a 10-inch springform cake tin with parchment paper (or just grease well with butter if like me you don’t have any!). Peel and slice the apples, tossing them in the juice of the lemon to stop them going brown.

In a seperate bowl beat together the melted butter, eggs and sugar and then fold in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. I then added a spash of milk so that the mixture was the consistency of a thick batter (you can use water if you prefer). Stir in the sliced apples. Don’t worry if there seem to be too many, this is normal! Pour the mixture into the tin and roughly spread to the edges. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown. Eat warm on its own or with a good Italian ice cream!