Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Apple Almond Teacake for lo-cal tea

Love a good teacake for afternoon tea?
Yes, please!

Teacakes are ideal for whipping up in a hurry because there's no fancy skills required, just a desire for some warm-from-the-oven sweetness to have with a cup of tea. Also, teacakes are meant to be eaten straight away, so they can be made smaller so they cook more quickly, too.

This delcious cake was made at the last minute, using ingredients lying around the kitchen. The apple and almond on top add some texture to the moist cake, and instead of sugar, I used a natural sweetener, Natvia. I must say that I like using this sweetener when baking cakes - it doesn't taste artificial (because it's not), it seems sweeter than sugar (so you can use less), and best of all, it has 95% fewer calories than sugar (and that's v. good for this little dumpling). I also added some to my cuppa tea, so it was (almost) a low-cal afternoon tea. Which is why I had, um, 'more than one' slice of cake. It all balances out. Doesn't it? 

Apple and Almond Teacake
Serves 8

Ingredients
125g butter
½ cup Natvia or sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup buttermilk (or normal milk)
1 small apple, grated
¼ cup flaked almonds

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 20cm round springform pan; grease the paper as well.
2. Cream butter and Natvia/sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat until combined.
3. Stir in half the sifted flour and baking powder with half the buttermilk, then add the remaining flour and milk. Stir well to combine.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with grated apple and almonds. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm.

Ingredients, including, flour, buttermilk, apple, eggs, butter and almonds.
Thanks to Flujo for the sample of Natvia (more info here)

Sprinkling apple and almonds on the cake before baking

A lovely, moist teacake

One slice or two?
Er, don't mind if I do!

18 comments:

  1. I could have a good almond cake every day! Well, can't resist its perfectly moist and nutty seduction!

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  2. very interesting! i have been wondering about stevia. did the original recipe call for 1/2 cup of sugar? or have you adjusted the quantity down to make up for the extra sweetness? and do you think it affects the texture of the crumb? that is such a lovely, sunny orb of a cake!

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  3. hi ragingyoghurt - I find the sweetener is much sweeter than sugar, so I adjusted the amount in the recipe to 1/2 cup (I usually use 3/4 cup sugar). And it is a moist-y cake regardless of whether you use sugar or sweetener, almost like a friand. PS: Love your apple cake, too.

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  4. Definitely looks like a beautiful cake for high tea! Love the crispy almond flakes.

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  5. I've got a similar recipe to this for little cakes and I'm always surprised by how moist they come out and how well-received they are for something so simple.

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  6. Hmmm... lovely recipe and get one to use up my almond flakes!

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  7. love simple delicious arvo tea treats like this! def healthy and multiple slices allowed :D

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  8. I love your version of math and balancing. it's strikingly similar to mine.

    The apple/almond combo sounds so good! i wonder if your natvia is the same thing as our truvia...

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  9. This looks truly delicious! Just the perffecttt afternoon tea-cake :) A really lovely recipe indeed

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  10. I just love simple teacakes like this. Yours looks so inviting! :)

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  11. What a lovely tea cake! Apples and almonds, perfect.

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  12. Def balances it out ;) AND the calories you burnt whipping up this little baby makes you worthy of another slice! Looks delish :)

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  13. How lovely! I must try and get myself fom of that natural sweetener. The cake looks so moorish!

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  14. Almond and apple...cannot miss this, especially now that Fall is arriving...beautiful cake...love it Bel!
    Hope you have a great week ahead :-)

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  15. How goood is Natvia. Love it (and the cake too!)
    T x

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  16. I just doubled this recipe and made it as cupcakes for my husband's coworkers. It is sooo good!! Thanks for the recipe! :)

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  17. Hi
    Thank you so much for this awesome recipe. I baked this cake for a party and everybody loved it. I just add vanilla to the mixture and cinnamon to the grated apple.Thank you again.

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