Vegan Apple Crumble Victoria Sponge

Time for another weekend bake tale:

Cinnamon sponge with lotus spread ripple, apple butter and walnut crumble

I was inspired by a Food52 post by Erin Mcdowell (link to the post at the bottom of the page) to make a cake using apples instead of buttercream as i find vegan buttercream to be overly fatty for some reason.

Basically, any excuse to make a cake and experience with different methods and I'm there!

This one turned out very well, the crumble added crunchiness and the apple butter was the perfect topping for the sponge, it's actually my favorite icing that i've used so far.

Also I didn't realise when I made it, but this cake could be great for halloween/bonfire night since it's kind of along the lines of the classic Toffee apple flavours.

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Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 175g Self Raising Flour

• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

• 250g Soya Yogurt

• 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

• 150g Light Brown Sugar

• 80mL Sunflower Oil

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• Lotus Spread

Apple Butter:

• 750g Red Skin Apple

• 3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

• 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar

• 1/2 Cup Water

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Walnut Crumble:

• 100g Flour

• 80g Vegan Spread

• 100g Caster Sugar

• 80g Walnuts

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Method:

Apple butter:

1. Core and cut the apples into slices (leave the skin on).

2. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan.

3. Cook for 30 minutes.

4. Blitz (is that a term?) in a blender then pour back into the saucepan.

5. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

6. Pour the mixture onto a tray to let it cool (it should be very thick, like butter).

Sponge:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. In one bowl: whisk together the sunflower oil, sugar and vanilla extract.

3. In a separate bowl: combine the yogurt with the apple cider vinegar.

4. Pour the yogurt mix into the oil mix and whisk together until combined.

5. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and cinnamon.

6. Whisk until combined.

7. Separate the batter in half and pour each half in a round baking tin (that has been lined with baking parchment or smothered in vegan spread).

8. Distribute 5 tsp of lotus spread randomly in each lot of batter and distribute using a knife to create a swirling effect.

9. Cook in the oven for 12 minutes (if you prick it with a toothpick, it should come out clean)

Walnut crumble:

1. Blitz (there's that word again) the walnuts to a crumb in a blender.

2. Mix all the ingredients together by rubbing them with your fingers until they form small lumps.

3. Distribute onto a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Assembly:

1. On one cake, smother with lotus spread and apple butter.

2. Top with the other cake.

3. Cover the entire cake with apple butter.

4. Top with the crumble pieces.

Link to Erin Mcdowell Blog:

https://food52.com/blog/23220-fall-ginger-cake-with-apple-butter-frosting