Apple and Green Cabbage Cake - Chef Recipe by Zita Steyn

Ingredients

"This makes a rather impressive three-tier cake that is deliciously moist, has telltale green flecks and a wonderful flavour. The icing is also good with a bit of double cream whisked into the cream cheese instead of butter. Buy a few pots of organic puréed apple in the baby section of your supermarket, or make your own by cooking down some apples and blitzing into a purée, then freeze what you don't need in ice cube trays. Try to find organic dried apple, as it is chewier than non-organic." ~Zita Steyn.

Cake:

380g wholemeal spelt flour
50g almond flour or ground almonds
280g dark muscovado sugar
1 Tbs bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
25mL apple sauce or puree (see Introduction above)
4 large or 5 medium eggs
375mL liquid coconut oil (about 300g solid), macadamia nut oil or cooking oil of your choice
300g very finely shredded green (sweet) cabbage, chopped up a few times
2 large cooking apples (about 450g), peeled, cored and finely grated
70g chopped dried apple

Icing:

200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
400g cream cheese, at room temperature
90mL maple syrup

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4. Grease three 20cm cake tins and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

Cake:

Whisk together the flour, almond flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla seeds, apple sauce, eggs and oil.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined. Stir in the cabbage, grated apple and dried apple.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 45 minutes or until springy to the touch and the cake pulls away from the sides of the tin.

Leave to cool in the tins for about 10 minutes before turning out and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Icing:

Cream the butter with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth and well combined, then stir in the maple syrup. Chill in the fridge to set slightly before using to sandwich the cake layers and spread over the finished cake.

Credits: This is an edited extract from Good Better Green by Zita Steyn published by Quadrille $29.99 and is available in stores nationally.

Photo Credits: This is an edited extract from Good Better Green by Zita Steyn published by Quadrille $29.99 and is available in stores nationally.