Anna’s apple cake . . . and vinegar

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: Use all the apple scraps to make this vinegar. Pictures by Anna Mathieson

“This recipe is a riff of a favourite Sicilian apple cake I used to eat with my Mum when we went to Zarbo Cafe in Auckland,” says Anna.

“I've adapted the recipe so it's gluten-free. You can swap the butter and milk for olive oil and nut milk to make it dairy-free too.

“With a nod to the lovelies at Milkwood Permaculture, I've used the scraps of the apple to make this useful and delicious apple vinegar.”

120g butter plus a bit extra for greasing the tin

1kg granny smith or other cooking apples (approx 8 medium-sized apples)

1 lemon, zest and juice

4 medium eggs or 3 large eggs

⅔ packed cup / 130g brown sugar

1 cup / 150 g gluten free flour (I used Edmonds brand)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon nutmeg

90ml milk

1 cup / 120g raisins

1 cup / 120g walnuts

50g pine nuts (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 teaspoons raw or white sugar

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and toast the walnuts (and pine nuts if you are using them).

• Line a springform baking tin with baking paper, then grease the inside with butter, especially the sides.

• Peel and core the apples and slice thinly, reserving the scraps for apple-scrap vinegar.

• Finely zest the lemon and squeeze the juice over the sliced apples. Mix together with your hands until the apples are all coated.

• In a large bowl, whisk or beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick. Add the milk and fold in the flour, baking powder and nutmeg.

• Pour one third of the cake batter into the tin and arrange one third of the apples on top.

• Sprinkle with walnuts/pine nuts and raisins. Repeat until you have used all the batter and finish with a layer of apples.

• Mix cinnamon and raw sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of the cake.

• Put in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

• If the cake is browning too quickly, place a layer of baking paper on top of it while it's baking.

• Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

1 litre of boiled and cooled water

4 tablespoons sugar

Apple scraps (peels, cores, cut off bits)

• Use boiling water to sterilise a large wide-mouth jar. The wider the mouth, the better — you need to expose the mixture to the natural yeasts in the air.

• Dissolve the sugar in a little bit of hot water so you have a sugar solution.

• Add the apple scraps to the jar and top it up with water so all the apple bits are covered.

• Cover the jar with muslin and a rubber band (I used an old clean hanky instead).

• Check the jar every few days, smell it and taste it. If the apple bits are rising to the top, you can use a clean stone to weigh it down, or stir the mixture daily with a wooden chopstick. Ideally the water will always cover the apple bits so mould doesn't grow.

• Keep the jar out of full sunlight.

• The first ferment can take between 1-4 weeks depending on the air temperature; things are working when a foamy layer develops on top of the apple mixture — this means the water is turning into vinegar.

• When the mixture stops bubbling and the apple solids sink to the bottom, it's time to strain out the apple scraps and ferment the vinegar.

• Using a sieve lined with the muslin or hanky, strain the mixture and pour the liquid back into the jar. Rinse the muslin/hanky and put it back on top.

• The second ferment can take between two weeks and six months — this will depend on the temperature and your taste buds.

• During the second stage of fermenting, taste it every five days or so. If it's vinegary, you're done. If it's still sweet, leave it for another week.

• Once you're happy with the taste, put a lid on the jar and use it for: salad dressing, cleaning surfaces, rinsing your hair . . . anything you'd normally use apple cider vinegar for.

• During stage 1, a probiotic ‘mother' scoby might grow on the surface of the vinegar. This is good! Remove it carefully with a wooden or plastic spoon and store it in a little bit of stage 1 apple-scrap vinegar, and add it to the next batch.

• If a white or greyish ‘scum' forms on top of the liquid, this is kahm yeast. It's nothing to worry about — you can skim it off gently if it bothers you, or leave it until you filter the vinegar.

• Make sure that the muslin or hanky is doubled over — don't let fruit flies or other critters get into your vinegar.