The mix of spices (cardamom, cinnamon & cloves) especially Cardamom is a flashback and reminder of my grandmother's kitchen in Bam, Kerman where y grandparents used to live when I was just a little kid. Her kitchen shelfs were full of cooper pots, and baking sheets. She used to bake a lot of Persian pastries for the Norooz, every year for our family and all the close families. She is such a patient and peaceful person. And I think that's her very first trick for being a marvelous cook and baker.
The orange instead reminds me of Jiroft, Jiroft is an ancient city (where Jiroft culture was found by archeologists) a city that I spent some of my childhood years in. My father used to help building hospitals during Iran-Iraq war and we used to live in a very beautiful house with garden full of Bougainvillea and orange trees. Streets of Jiroft used to be sea romantic during the spring and summer because of the orange blossoms. Hopefully still it’s like that. It was gnostic!
I love the cardamom and orange in this cake. It is so easy to prepare and it's a perfect cake for office breaks, an afternoon tea or a lazy morning breakfasts. Hope you’ll like it. The cake is going to last out-side of the fridge for 2-3 days! Cover it with a clean tea towel.
Serves 6-8 People
Ingredients:
For the Apples:
3 medium size apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
For the Batter:
300 g butter, room temperature
300 g sugar
5 eggs
2 tablespoon fresh orange juice
zest of an orange or lemon
300 g flour
15 g baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
a good pinch of clove powder
1 tablespoon raisins
3 tablespoon brown sugar
Method:
Peel 2 apples, cut them in small cubes. Mix the diced apples, cinnamon & sugar in a bowl, set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Greece a 28cm cake tin and line with baking paper.
You can mix the batter with hand but it definitely takes more time and energy and it might affect the result but it’s not impossible. In a stand mixer whisk together the room temperature butter & the sugar until soft, fluffy and pale yellow in color.
On medium/low speed, add the eggs, one at the time, mix well. When you reached a smooth and even cream, add orange juice and the zest.
In a separate bowl sift the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder and clove powder, then add them into the cream. Use a spatula or the stand mixer paddle to gently stir the mixture until you have a smooth cream again.
Fold into apples, and raisins. Pour the batter into the tin cake, tap the tin cake on the counter 2-3 times to let the air bubbles on the top pop.
Peel the third apple and cut it into wedges. Garnish the top of the batter with the wedges. Drizzle over the brown sugar and place the tin in the oven.
Bake cake until golden-brown on top and cooked trough. If you find your cake is still uncooked in the middle, reduce the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas 3 and bake the cake further more. Leave to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes. Then remove form the tin and let it cool completely.