Apple and Olive Oil Cake with Maple Icing

The apple is the star of this cake…juicy tidbits nestled in a moist, lightly spiced cake with a whisper of lemon, topped with a tangy maple-cream cheese buttercream.

The batter for the cake is easy to put together and has a relatively short list of ingredients…unusual for this author ; ). But, as with most of the recipes for baked goods in this book, I had to make some substitutions: unbleached pastry flour for the plain flour; Granny Smith apples for the Bramley; maple sugar for the light muscavado (this last one was not by necessity….I just wanted to up the maple flavour in the frosting).

I baked it in a slightly larger springform pan so baking time was reduced. I do think that it could be baked successfully in a regular well greased cake pan as it’s sturdy enough to be inverted, even when warm. I didn’t split the cake so just made a half batch of the frosting for the top.

Moist and delicious and not very sweet, even with the frosting. Would be great for breakfast muffins without the icing and made with whole wheat pastry flour. I’ll try that next time. Serves 10-12.