It’s been a good weekend, with a quick trip to IKEA so I can get my picture wall project going, and then a very chill Sunday. And what does a Sunday need, apart from a nice clear blue sky and some actual sunshine? Cake! I have been craving cake and itching to get baking again, so what better thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?
I decided to make one of my favorite cakes. It’s a white sponge cake bottom, with apple sauce and a whipped cream on top, sprinkled with cinnamon. And it is oh so good!!! Normally it’s intended for an entire baking sheet, but I used the baking form I normally use for brownies (approx. 30x20cm) for about half the normal recipe. And since I replaced the heavy crème fraiche in the recipe with low-fat “kvark” (there really is no English equivalent, although this site offers some replacement ideas) and replaced the oil in the dough with apple sauce, it totally counts as healthy. And it turned out perfectly! It tastes fresh, even with the whipped cream in the topping, and the combination of apple and cinnamon is just perfect. I’m sharing the recipe below.
(Almost) Low-fat apple sauce layered cake
(for one ca. 30x20cm baking dish)
Sponge cake:
1,5 cups (ca. 180g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (ca. 200g) sugar
1/2 cup (ca. 120g) unsweetened apple sauce
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
Topping:
2 cups (ca. 500g) unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup (250ml) whipping cream (or low-fat replacement like Cremefine)
2 cups (ca. 250g) kvark/ fromage frais (low-fat)
2 tsp. brown sugar
cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle
For the dough, mix flour, sugar, egg, apple sauce and baking powder and beat until smooth. Grease a 30x20cm baking dish and pour the dough in. Make sure it spreads evenly. Bake at 175°C for approx. 20min. Test with a toothpick that it is baked all the way through. Take out of the oven and let cool completely.
For the topping, add 2 tsp. brown sugar to the heavy cream and whip until stiff. Carefully mix with the kvark/ fromage frais until smooth. When the sponge cake has completely cooled, spread an even layer of apple sauce across. Top off with the cream mix and spread evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on top. Cool in the fridge for about 2 hours before serving.
We finished about half the cake already on Sunday (ooops!), and I’ll finish the last piece today (sniff!). I’ll sure be making this again soon!! The great thing about it is that the sponge cake really soakes up the fluid from the apple sauce, and it tastes even better on days two and three (if it lasts that long).