Apple Cake – An Easy Peasy Recipe for Children

This apple cake recipe is a staple in our house. I first made the yoghurt cake when I was 7 or 8. I would make it pretty much every Wednesday at my nan’s, Mamie Monique. In France, Wednesday was a day off school and I spent all my Wednesdays at my grandparents’. Mamie would let me get on with it as it was so simple, using just a few ingredients and the only measuring tool I needed was the yoghurt pot the natural yoghurt used in the recipe came in. The cake batter was so tasty I couldn’t stop eating it. I know, I know, you shouldn’t eat raw cake batter…

Earlier this week, Crevette declared his favourite teddy’s birthday was coming up. Mister Penguin was turning five and we had to have a party, which I though was really sweet. We decided we would have our little get-together during the week-end so Beanie (3 years 4 months) and Crevette (5 years 6 months) could bake the apple cake themselves.

Meet Mister Penguin:

Crevette and Beanie made the apple cake yesterday. This is the first cake I ever baked all on my own and the recipe is so easy to follow I thought my little ones could give it a go. They had made the apple cake before, but it was my first time taking so much of a step back. I basically just got the ingredients and utensils out of the cupboards, helped them remember what to put in, operated the electric whisk, peeled apples and put the cake in the oven, checking it now and then. I also took pictures of the whole process to add to those I had taken when I last made the cake with Beanie just over a week ago.

The children negotiated (with a pinch of arguing and shouting thrown in) who was to do what.

Crevette emptied the contents of the yoghurt pot in the bowl.

Beanie washed the yoghurt pot and spoon.

They both measured the ingredients using the clean yoghurt pot.

They took it in turns to crack the eggs into a second bowl.

Crevette separated the yolks from the whites using the water bottle method. Let me explain: squeeze gently your clean, empty plastic bottle and place it over the yolk, then reduce the pressure on the bottle and the egg yolk will get sucked in, whilst the white remains in the bowl.

Tilt the bottle so that the yolk does not fall back in the bowl. We had never tried this little experiment before and it was great to see it actually worked. Children can be a bit rough and we ended up using more than three eggs so I would advise using two bowls: one for the whites that have been successfully separated and another for newly cracked eggs.  If you do not have any extra eggs or are not prepared to make an omelette with the failed attempts, you might want to separate the eggs yourself.

Crevette folded the whites into the dough

and cut the apples with a child-safe knife

before adding them to the dough.

They both (helped by me this time) licked the bowl and spoons and Beanie did all the washing up. I know you should not eat raw dough but with this recipe, it is impossible to resist and to be fair, I have done it for years and never ended up sick. Naughty but nice!

They checked excitedly on the baking process with me, helped Mister Penguin blow his candles and we all ate a lot of apple cake. It really was a fun afternoon and the build up to the party all week was really exciting for all of us.  I always find their enthusiasm for the little things in life is so contagious!

Easy peasy apple cake recipe, anyone?

Print

Apple Cake

Recipe for Children

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 125 g pot of natural yoghurt
• 3 yoghurt pots plain flour
• 1 ½ yoghurt pots granulated sugar
• ½ yoghurt pot sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 medium free-range eggs at room temperature separated
• Pinch of salt
• 3 small apples

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to gas mark 5 (190 degrees Celsius / 375 degrees Fahrenheit), line the bottom of a round 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin with parchment paper and grease the sides with vegetable oil.
2. Empty the contents of your yoghurt pot in a 2L bowl and wash the pot.
3. Use your clean yoghurt pot to measure out the flour, sugar, oil and milk and add them to the bowl, together with the vanilla sugar, baking powder and egg yolks.
4. Mix together thoroughly.
5. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks start to form.
6. Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula, making sure you do not break them so your cake batter is airy.
7. Add your peeled, sliced apples to the batter and stir.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and place on the middle shelf of your oven for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. If it comes out covered in cake batter, it needs a few more minutes in the oven.
9. Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool slightly before transferring it to a wire rack to cool.
10. Enjoy!