Apple and tarragon cake

Last week I discovered and bought a cookbook that I just know is going to be slightly dogeared and stained before too long. Those badges of honour that all good cookbooks should wear.

The book in question is Little Library Year by Kate Young. It’s a combination of glorious seasonal recipes that are interspersed with extracts from some of Kate’s favourite books, along with her own thoughts and food memories. The food photography in the book is wonderful and as you can probably tell I’m smitten with the whole thing.

I cooked from the book for the first time at the weekend and made an apple and tarragon cake. Apple and tarragon may not sound like a natural flavour combination but I can tell you that the speed with which the cake disappeared in this house is clear confirmation that they are.

Ingredients cake

• 2 large cooking apples
• 150g butter
• 3 eggs
• 150g ground almonds
• 2tsp baking powder
• 100g plain flour
• 1tbsp chopped tarragon*
• Pinch of salt

Ingredients topping

• 1 crisp eating apple very finely sliced
• A pinch of light brown sugar. I put a bit more sugar than Kate recommends and this helped to caramelise the apple slices as the cake cooked.

Method

• Preheat the oven to gas mark 3. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
• Peel and core the cooking apples, chop into chunks and place in a small saucepan with a splash of water. Bring to a simmer over a low heat and cook until the apples break down.
• Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Whisk the eggs into the mix, one at as time, then fold in the almonds , baking powder, flour and tarragon.
• Spoon the batter into the tin, arrange the slices of eating apple on top and sprinkle with brown sugar.
• Bake for 90 minutes until the cake is risen and golden brown. 

*When I posted a picture of the cake on Twitter at the weekend I had a food blogger in Helsinki contact me to ask if I’d used Russian or French Tarragon. I want back to say that it was French, but that if I can find Russian I’ll try it next time to see if it changes the taste in anyway.