Going froufrou – Sweet Apple Bread With Almond Topping

Monday, November 14, 2011 · by Ilva · in

froufrou plate

Oh la la la, I’m going froufrou today! Sometimes I really don’t know how to shoot something I have made for the blog, I know what to cook but my usual habit of thinking a bit beforehand about the setup for the photo doesn’t always work and then I depend on finding something that triggers my imagination among my props. This time I found a tea cup lid in metal, you can see it in the background, that I bought recently together with Merisi when she visited me here in Pistoia and with that in my hand, I grabbed the two pinkish-red pieces of fabric, an old patterned plate and then a painted whitish board and suddenly realized I had gone completely froufrou!

start and apple dippyapples dippy

And that is one of the wonderful, liberating things about food photography-the freedom of styles to use! I love that I am allowed to indulge in any possible style that I feel like trying out, my personal style is quite there anyway and though I lean towards a more minimalist approach as a person, it is so fun to be able to play around-it’s a bit like playing in a doll’s house if you understand what I mean. Now I try this and now I try that, moving around the pieces and colours to see what happens and having the best of times. Sometimes I do realize how lucky I am to work with what I do and today is one of those days! On the other hand, to someone else, my job could mean a nightmare so yet again: everything is relative. N.B. that I now restrained myself from starting a ramble about the jobs I would find deadly boring, take note and be grateful!

Pink Lady Apple-4

It’s time to bake with apples, maybe even a bit late but no, it’s never too late for an apple cake or, in this case, an apple bread. A sweet apple bread with almond topping and cinnamon too, in my humble opinion this is good comfort food!

apple cake dippy

SWEET APPLE BREAD WITH ALMOND TOPPING
 1 big one

75 g/2,6 oz butter
300 ml/ 1,3 cup milk
25 g/ 2,8 oz fresh yeast (this conversion table might help you)
80 g/ 2,8 oz sugar
600 g/ 21 oz AP flour
1 pinch of salt

topping:
4 apples, medium sized
4 + 4 tblsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
50 g/ 1,8 oz blanched almonds
50 g/ 1,8 oz butter, room temperature soft
1 egg

 Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add the milk, warm to finger warm. While the butter melts, crumble the yeast and sprinkle the sugar over so the yeast starts melting on its own. Add a little of the milk to dissolve the yeast completely, done that add the rest of the milk and stir well.

 Start adding the flour, stirring all the time so that you have a smooth dough. Take it and and knead it on a flour dusted work space for 4-5 minutes. Add a little flour if the dough is too sticky.

 Put the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise for about 1 hour or until it has doubled.

 While the dough rests, peel the apples and cut them into thin strips or small dice. Put in a bowl. add 4 tblsp sugar and the cinnamon and mix it all.

 Put the rest of the ingredients for the topping, almonds, flour, sugar and butter, in a mixer and whizz until you have a crumbly mix.

  When the dough is ready, box it down lightly and either roll or push it out into a rectangle that is around 1,5 cm/ 0,6 in high. Now you can make a big one 30×35 cm/11,8×13,8 in on a baking sheet or you can make two smaller ones, the choice is yours.

 Whisk the egg and brush the dough with it, then spread out the apples over the surface and finsh with sprinkling the topping evenly over it all.

 Bake in a pre-heated oven (200°C/390°F) for 15- 20 minutes or until the apple bread is golden.

Sweet Apple Bread With Almond Topping-2

L

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