It’s been two months since the book has “been out there” — Two exhilarating, nerve-wracking and unbelievable months and sold out book launch dinners and workshops in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and London! To say thank you for all the wonderful support and enthusiasm for Florentine, I’m sharing one of my favourite recipes from the book — a humble but delightful apple cake — and I’m giving away a limited edition print from the book to one lucky reader! **Update // This giveaway is now closed! Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments! //**
It’s one of my favourite images from the cookbook, a photograph that I took in black and white film of the perfect accessory for a hole-in-the-wall panino spot: a rack for holding your wine glass. This one is at Semel, a wonderful panino place at the Sant’Ambrogio markets. It comes unframed but mounted on museum-quality archival mat board. It’ll come wrapped in marbled paper and I’ll send it anywhere in the world. Just leave a comment below to say who you’d bake this cake for (or want to share it with) and I’ll pick a winner. Get your entries in by 22 May, 2016!
If you’re coming to Florence in May-July this year, and would like to say hello, keep a look out on the events page for more things coming up to celebrate all things Florentine — aperitivo at the back of a butcher shop, a cooking and wine pairing class, a trattoria dinner collaboration or a food styling workshop with the talented stylist, Deb Kaloper, who I worked with on Florentine, for example.
But onto this cake. It’s one that I treasure because it is so wonderfully simple and easy to whip up, and I think its homely quality is one of the reasons it’s such a crowd pleaser.
It’s one of those cakes that you imagine everyone’s nonna knows how to make and has ready on the kitchen counter when visitors come. It’s one that you will always find, reassuringly, in bakeries, bars and pastry shops all over town. It’s also commonly on trattoria menus for dessert, although many Florentines would even eat this for breakfast or a mid-morning snack. It’s not overly sweet, as Florentines don’t have much of a sweet tooth, and has a good, lemony tang to it, but you could, if you like, brush a little warmed apricot jam over the top once you pull it out of the oven for some shine and an extra touch of sweetness.
Torta di mele — Apple cake
Recipe from Florentine: The True Cuisine of Florence (published by Hardie Grant Books)
- 2 large golden delicious apples, peeled and sliced 1cm thick
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 150 grams of sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
- 125 gr butter, softened
- 3 eggs
- 150 ml milk
- 300 gr flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
Place the apple slices in a bowl with the lemon juice and 2 extra tablespoons of sugar.
Beat the sugar with the butter until pale and creamy, add the eggs and beat very well until you have a thick, pale mixture. Add the milk and then fold in the flour, baking powder, salt and half the apple slices to combine.
Pour into a cake tin and place the remaining apple slices all over the surface. Bake at 180°C for 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and springy when touched.
And here are some instagram images and highlights from the Florentine events in the UK I wanted to share — a visit to Books for Cooks, the ultimate cookbook shop in London’s Notting Hill, and the beautiful Toppings & Co bookshop in Bath, where you can find some signed copies; and two pop-up dinners with the absolutely fantastic Italian Supper Club team together with The Guardian in their Hackney warehouse.