Bad Girl Bakery – Date, Apple And Walnut Cake

We are over the moon about the publication of Bad Girl Bakery by Jeni Iannetta, which will be in all good book stores in November. Jeni who is based in the Scottish Highlands is an inspirational woman and her baking really is out of this world. 

With apple season upon us, we thought this date, apple and walnut cake would give you a wee sneak peek and a taster of what is to come once the Bad Girl Bakery is let loose in your kitchen.

So over to Jeni now. And yes, bad girls do make very, very good cake indeed.

Don’t forget to pre-order your copy of Bad Girl Bakery direct from us via our website here and guarantee you’re one of the very first to be cooking up her baking delights in the comfort of your own home for family and friends.

Thank you as always for your support.

Date, Apple & Walnut Cake By Jeni Ianetta (Bad Girl Bakery)

This date, apple and walnut cake started its life as a sticky toffee cake, but we had some apples to spare and set about experimenting and here is the result! It’s a really simple cake to make, but somehow the rows of apple slices on the top make it look much fancier than it really is. The apple jelly glaze intensifies the flavours and gives the apple slices a lovely shine. 

• Feel free to leave the walnuts out if you’d prefer, or replace them with the same amount of pecans or hazelnuts. 
• This cake is at its best on the day it’s made, but it will be fine for another day or so if you keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s delicious gently warmed in the microwave on day two. 

SERVES 9–12 

32 x 21cm traybake tin, lined 

Ingredients:

150g chopped dried dates 

150ml apple juice

250g unsalted butter, softened 

275g soft light brown sugar 

5 medium eggs

280g self-raising flour

1 tbsp ground cinnamon 

1⁄2 tsp baking powder

1 small red apple, skin on, cored and grated 

To Finish:

3 small red apples, skin on, halved, cored and thinly sliced

4 tbsp apple jelly or apricot jam (optional) 

75g walnuts, roughly chopped 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C) fan. 

Put the chopped dates and apple juice in a small pan on a medium heat and simmer until the liquid is almost all absorbed. Set aside to cool. 

Put the softened butter and sugar in your bowl or stand mixer and beat until it looks lighter in colour and less craggy. Crack your eggs into a jug and weigh the flour, cinnamon and baking powder into another bowl. 

Pour one egg into the butter and sugar and add a spoonful of flour. Mix (on low if you’re using a mixer) until fully combined, then repeat with each of the remaining eggs. Add the rest of the flour and mix till it’s just combined. You’ll need to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula after each addition. Stir in the cooled date mixture and the grated apple with a spatula until combined, and spoon into the lined tin, smoothing the batter out with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Neatly arrange the sliced apples in rows across the top. 

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 60 to 65 minutes. Test the centre with a skewer after an hour, and if it doesn’t come out clean pop back in the oven for five minutes, then check again. (You may need to do this more than once – every oven is different, so don’t worry if yours takes a bit longer to bake.) 

Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes or so while you make the glaze (if you’re using it). Pop the apple jelly and two tablespoons of water in a very small pan and put over a low heat until it begins to boil (you can also do it in a microwave on low). Stir until it’s smooth and then glaze the top of the warm cake with it using a pastry brush. Scatter over the chopped walnuts while the glaze is still warm. 

Leave to cool a little in the tin before lifting out using the paper and slicing. 

YUM! Thank you Jeni for this truly magnificent cake x