Celebrate Autumn with a Delicious Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Norwegian Apple Cake!

I love autumn!

It’s autumn in Norway, and for the first time in many years I am able to enjoy it!

Autumn is possibly my favourite season, one I sorely missed during my time in Australia. Sure, who doesn’t love sun and salty water! -But when the tree tops are on fire with golden leaves, and the earth offers up an abundance of gorgeous fruits and vegetables.. well, at that point I want nothing more than to be back home in Scandinavia.

These days I blissfully loaf around on the chilly hardwood floors in my woolen slippers, tightly hugging a blanket and a huge cup of hot tea on my “way to work”. I don’t have to loaf very far, mind you; my workplace is at the top of the stairs in my own home.

MAKE SURE YOU READ: Give Thanks for this Deliciously Dense Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake!

Photo: Bigstock

As Norwegian as Apple Cake

My house is 100 years old, and has stood the test of not only time, but countless hardy Norwegian seasons. It has seen blizzards, scourging sun, and many an autumn storm. It still does its job with quiet brilliance, shielding me from the elements whilst allowing me an incredible feeling of being part of the breathtaking Scandinavian nature just outside my window.

Apples are a big part of the Norwegian diet. Not only because they are gloriously nutrient-rich and delicious, but probably also because it’s one of the few fruits that thrive in our contrasting climate. In autumn, apples are everywhere and in everything. We even have an “apple day” where we celebrate the Norwegian varieties by baking cakes and handing out crates of them in schools.

“Apple Cake” is as Norwegian as “Apple Pie” is American. It’s such a widely appreciated and much-loved cake, that I dare say it must be a staple in every family.

Gluten-Free Apple Cake is always a winner!

This is one gluten-free cake that will never be dull! The sweet and sour juice from the crips, fresh apples provide all the moisture this cake needs. The apples also perfectly balance the sugar and butter, so the cake feels light and fresh, bite after bite.

You can add several layers of apple, depending on how moist you’d like the apple cake to be, and you can serve it with luscious vanilla ice cream, unsweetened whipped cream, or even just icing sugar.

No matter how you serve this cake, I can promise you that it will be an instant favourite!

MAKE SURE YOU READ: Spooky Chocolate Muffin Marshmallow Ghosts (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Failsafe, low FODMAP)

Recipe for Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Apple Cake

You’ll need:

This recipe can be made dairy-free

• 3-4 organic or local apples, peel on (sour apples work really well)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 200 grams room tempered butter (or dairy-free substitute -not spreadable)
• 150 grams sugar
• 150 grams gluten-free cake flour. For this cake I used Mix C from Schär
  
• 5 medium organic eggs from pastured hens
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Icing sugar for decoration
  

Tip: Double this recipe to fill an oven tray

Method:

• Preheat you oven to 180 c or 355 f
• Grease or line a cake tin or bundt tin.

TIP: Use ground rice in the tin to prevent the cake from sticking 

• Wash and cut the apples into thin slices/wedges, and place these on the bottom of your cake tin. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Whip the sugar and butter until it is white and fluffy
• Add one egg at a time whilst whisking on low speed. Make sure each egg is well mixed through before adding the next.
• Mix the flour and baking powder well, before sifting it gradually into the batter. Keep whisking on low speed throughout.
• Spread half of the mixture on top of the apples, and place more apples on top. Sprinkle more cinnamon over the second layer of apples, and finish with the last of the batter.

TIP: If you are using a shallow baking tin or oven tray, start with the batter and place the apples on top.

• Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, or until the apple cake is cooked through.

TIP: Poke the cake with a skewer at the 35-minute mark to see if the skewer comes out clean. If so, the apple cake is ready!

• Let the apple cake cool down for a few minutes inside the cake tin, before tipping it out onto a cooling rack. If you chose to bake it in an oven tray, you don’t have to tip it out. Alternatively, if you lined the oven tray, you can lift the cake out.

Serve the gluten-free apple cake whilst it is still lukewarm. It freezes well, and only needs a quick re-heat in the microwave before serving to regain that fresh-baked flavour!

Velbekomme!