Italian apple torte

Apple Bake

Preheat oven to 170°C.

Mix the eggs and sugar together till light in colour and creamy.

Add a pinch of salt, vanilla and butter – mix well.

Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix in with the wet ingredients. Don’t over mix, fold till well combined.

Add the thin slices of apples and mix through. Try to get all the apples counted and the mixture homogeneous.

In a 20cm cake tin, lined with baking paper and well greased, arrange the mixture getting an even distribution of the apples slices.

Bake for 170°C for 40-45min, remove and allow to cool in the pan. Then pop the apple bake out and set on a cake rack (use a small plate to support if you must, a spring form cake tin can also be used as long as the batter doesn’t leak out)

TIP: Use a mandoline to slice the apples and periodically dose with lemon juice to prevent oxidation.

Potato Crown

In a pot large enough to house a 20cm spring form pan ring, get the oil heated to 170°C or warm enough for a medium speed fry.

Using a clean kitchen towel, wring out hands of the grated potato and squeeze firmly to remove as much juice as possible – do moderate amounts at a time and transfer the dry potato to a mixing bowl.

Add the salt and cornstarch and mix thoroughly using your hands.

When your oil is at temperature, lower the ring section of the springform pan into the oil.

Have a wooden spoon at hand and divide the potato mix into roughly 3 equally loosely shaped patties.

Test the oil with a piece of grated potato, It should fry immediately but take around 3min to brown and crisp up.

Carefully lower each potato patty into the oil around the inside of the ring. It will bubble up but just add the next batch while maneuvering the frying patty with a wooden spoon.

Use a wooden spoon and fork to gingerly separate the strands of grated potato, trying to get an even distribution and thickness (Don’t worry about separating the lattice from each other initially, it will bind and fuse as it fries.

Once the crown is fused (around 3 min of undisturbed frying) use a silicone tong or wooden spoon to remove the ring from the pot.

Fry for 4 – 5min or until the crown is golden brown.

Use a spatula and spoon to list the grown out of the oil and allow it to drain for a few moments (It might feel soft or malleable at this stage but it will crisp up beautifully as it cools)

Set on tissue paper to drain excess oil and immediately dust with the icing sugar (be generous)

Arrange the potato crown on top of the apple bake and decorate it with candied crab apples.

Can be served warm or at room temperature with pouring cream or ice cream.

Reprinted with permission from Derick van Biljon, the Foodie SA, follow along on Instagram for more.