Those of you who follow my instagram know already that I paid my annual visit to the Apfelweinfestival (aka Cider Festival) in Frankfurt some weeks ago. I love applewine and thus the festival. It takes place in the center of Frankfurt city and always comes with the most hilarious stage acts that you can imagine and lots of different cider makers from around Frankfurt. We went during the day but that did not keep us from trying out various variations of cider and enjoying the stage highlights. On my way home, I was craving my Mum’s Applewine Cake so much that I had to make some. When I fiddled out the recipe lightning struck me. Funny how a hyphen can shatter your entire world. I always thought it was applewine (as in cider) and not apple-wine (just apples and real wine) cake for all my life. No I know better and transformed it into Apple Cider Cake.

For the cake base:

• 250 g flour (sifted)
• 1 egg
• 125 g butter
• 150 g sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

I usually pledge for room temperature but as this is a Granny style cake, I decided to go Granny style and use cold butter. Knead together all ingredients to combine. Better be fast with this to prevent the butter from melting. Roll out between sheets of wrapping foil or freezer bags and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. I try to put the dough already roughly in the needed shape as it shortens the time needed to chill thoroughly and it will help you to get the dough tin-ready without loosing the chill-effect. Line your 26 cm tin with baking parchment, transfer your dough round that is slightly larger than you tin in there and form a small rim all around. This rim will fall in while baking, so no worries, but it’ll form a bit higher edge, that helps when filling the cake. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling:

• 1 kg apples (I love to use Boskopp but any other sour and tender apple will do)
• 1 l Apple Cider (or only 0.7 l if you want less jelly)
• 2 packs of Vanilla Custard Powder (the one I use is made of corn starch and real vanilla)
• 125 g sugar
• 400 g whip cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 2 packs cream stiffener
• cinnamon to sprinkle

Set the cake base on a plate and put a matching cake ring round it. The cake ring should be at least 5cm of height. Pick a pan large enough to hold the apples and the cider. Also cut a sheer of baking parchment to fit exactly into the pan, you’ll need it later.

Peel, core and slice the apples, each into 8 even parts and cook them in the apple cider over medium heat until tender. Skim the apples and scatter them evenly on your pastry. In a bowl mix a little wine with custard powder and sugar. Then gradually add to the warm wine while constantly stirring. Bring to boil for one minute. Remove from heat and cover immediately with the fitted parchment paper to prevent the jelly forming a skin. Let the custard cool until lukewarm, then remove the parchment and pour over the apples into the cake ring. Transfer to the fridge and wait until the custard is firm. Whip the cream together with vanilla sugar and cream stiffener until stiff. Spread over the apple jelly and top off with sprinkles of cinnamon. The cake tastes best when rested in the fridge overnight.