Upon hosting a BBQ at my home for my partner’s birthday, I felt compelled to bake something vegan for my two friends that were attending the event. I had never baked anything vegan before but wanted to be pushed slightly out of my comfort zone by trying a recipe with vegan substitute ingredients, such as vegan margarine.
After scouring the internet for a suitable recipe that would be enjoyed by both my vegan and non-vegan friends, I settled on Jamie Oliver’s Vegan Toffee Apple Upside-Down Cake.
I can’t tell you personally if the cake was delicious because I didn’t actually manage to try any of it myself since it was devoured in an instant at the event! However, considering the speed at which it was eaten, this might give you your answer.
Ingredients:
Cake
25g Vegan Margarine, plus extra for greasing
3 Pink Lady Apples
195g Muscovado Sugar
180g Plain Flour
1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1½ Tsp Mixed Spice
80ml Sunflower Pol
1 Tsp Vinegar
1 Lemon
85g Walnuts
Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease and line a cake tin. I used a loaf tin because that was all I had available at the time, but I would recommend a 23cm square cake tin.
2) Core and coarsely grate two of the Pink Lady apples. Next, finely slice the two remaining apples.
3) Melt 85g of the sugar and margarine into a pan and continuously stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into the prepared tin, making sure the sugar is evenly distributed.
3) On top of the melted sugar mixture, place the sliced apples into the tin so that as much of the surface area is covered with apple. In order to do this I cut a number of the apple slices into smaller sections to fill the gaps in. Press each apple slice down with a small amount of pressure to ensure each apple can be seen once baked.
4) Combine the flour, 110g of sugar, the bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, 180ml of water, the vinegar, grated apple and lemon zest. Mix the dry ingredients in with the wet.
5) Roughly chop and stir in the walnuts, then pour carefully over the layer of apples in the cake tin and smooth over.
6) Bake for 30 minutes in the centre of the oven, or until the skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out.
This cake should last 2-4 days if stored and covered in the fridge.
Credit to: Jamie Oliver