Name: Apple and Walnut Cake
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients: 1 lb Cox’s apples – peeled, cored, quartered and cut into ½in chunks; 2 oz shelled walnuts – broken into large pieces; 4 oz caster sugar plus extra ½ tablespoon; pinch ground nutmeg; big pinch cinnamon; 2 oz butter; 4 oz soft dark brown sugar; 5 oz soured cream; 2½in cubes crystallised ginger – finely chopped; 4 oz plain flour; 4 oz butter; up to 2 fl oz milk (if necessary); 2 eggs – separated; grated zest of half a lemon

Preparation info

serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Independent Cook

By Jeremy Round

Published 1988

About

This is the dish that won Linda Sue Park the first Independent cookery competition. My first inkling that she would walk off with the prize was when I caught guest judge Raymond Blanc, in a corner, wolfing down seconds. Instead of apples, you could use any hard fruit – pears, say, or quinces.

Ingredients

topping

2 oz butter
4 oz soft dark brown sugar
big pinch

Method

Cut the 2 oz butter into small cubes and scatter over the bottom of a pie, gratin or baking dish at least 1½in deep. Scatter the sugar, spices and walnuts over. Add the apples. Sprinkle with the le