LUMBERJACK CAKE

This is only a single layer cake, very course but lovely moist.

180 g dates, chopped
250 ml boiling water
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
125 g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
200 g cakeflour
½ teaspoon baking powder
30 g coconut
3 medium tart apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
Cream cheese frosting:
125 g cream cheese room, temperature
60 g butter room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1.5 cups icing sugar
⅓ cup toasted coconut (for outside of cake)

Place dates, boiling water, bicarbonate of soda and butter in bowl to soak for about 5 minutes or until butter is melted.
Beat egg, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Add the in flour, baking powder and coconut and mix.
Stir in date mixture and chopped apples by hand.
Spoon into a 23 cm prepared pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 180º C.
Let the cake cool completely.

Icing:
Cream the butter, add the cream cheese little by little and mix till smooth, add the vanilla.
Add the icing sugar, little by little, and mix in BY HAND until smooth.
Spread the icing on top of the cake, and sprinkle with toasted coconut.
If prefered, serve with whipped cream.

Recipe: My dear friend Gail’s Johnson
Photo: Rina Kleinhans

VARIASIE SONDER ROOMKAAS
LUMBERJACK CAKE WITH COCONUT TOPPING
Hier is myne – en ek moet sê, ek dink die klapper bo-op is lekkerder as die roomkaas.

1½ cups apple – approximately 2 apples peeled, cored and chopped (I used Granny Smiths)
1 cup/135 g pitted dates, chopped
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup oil (a vegetable or lightly flavoured oil is best, olive oils can be quite strong)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups plain all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
For topping:
70 g/2.5 ozs butter
4 tablespoons cream
⅓ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1½ cups shredded coconut or moist coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Line a round 9 inch springform tin with butter and baking parchment. In a bowl, place the chopped apple, dates, bicarb and boiling water and the bicarb should fizz. Allow to stand for 10 minutes making sure that the fruit sits in the water.
In the bowl of an electric mixer with a beater attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and oil for 3 minutes. Add the apple and date mixture, water and all, to this mix and fold to combine. Then fold into the salt, flour and baking powder folding gently, ensuring that it is completely mixed. The batter is quite wet at this stage so I always put the springform tin on another baking tray as I don’t want it to drip onto the bottom of the oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Meanwhile while the cake is baking, make the topping. In a small saucepan on low heat, melt the butter along with the cream, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Once melted and it becomes a rich butterscotchy maple sauce, add in the coconut. No need to toast the coconut as it will go into the oven where it will get toasted.
When the cake is done, take the tin out of the oven and then spread over the topping reaching to all of the sides. Place cake in the oven on the same temperature and bake for another 20 minutes until the topping is golden. Serve to your lumberjack of choice.

Recipe posted by Annatjie Heydenrych