Easter Apple and Almond Cake

Asked by Unknown. Answered on 2nd April 2015

Full question

I was hoping to make the Apple And Almond Cake as a Bundt using a Cathedral Style Bundt Pan for Easter. The recipe calls for a spring form pan. Is this absolutely essential? What can be done to ensure that the cake comes out from a non spring form pan? or would you not advise doing the cake this way? Many thanks.

Our answer

Nigella's Apple And Almond Cake (from Feast and on the Nigella website) is a very moist cake made with ground almonds (almond meal), eggs and apple puree. Unfortunately we suspect this could be a difficult cake to make in a bundt tin as the cake does not contain any gluten. Gluten provides structure to a cake, helping it to hold together. In a shaped bunt pan with a very defined pattern you may find that parts of the cake break off when you try to unmould it. So a springform pan is the best pan for this particular cake.

In general if you are using a bundt pan it is best to either use a non-stick baking spray or to brush the inside of the pan with a paste made from equal quantities of flour and vegetable oil. Make sure that you grease any crevices in the pan really well. Put the pan upside down on a wire rack (over some newspaper) for a few minutes to let any excess oil drain away.