Apple kuchen

The idea was to make Nigella’s apple and blackberry kuchen, but my stash of frozen blackberries was long gone (and to be honest I don’t even remember what I used the berries for). Therefore I made an apple and only apple kuchen, with a sprinkling of slivered almonds, which turned out delicious, moist and tender, adjectives very commonly associated to Ms. Lawson’s recipes; I hope the mail is nice to me and delivers her new cookbook as quick as possible. :D

Apple kuchen
from a cookbook I love and should use more often

Dough:
2 ¼ to 3 cups (315g to 420g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dried yeast
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated of ½ lemon
good grating fresh nutmeg
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, lukewarm
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened

Topping:
2 Granny Smith apples
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cream
grating of fresh nutmeg
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Icing:
1/3 cup (46g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon hot water

Lightly butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking sheet. Set aside.
Put 2 ¼ cups (315g) flour into a bowl with the salt, sugar and yeast and mix together. Beat the eggs and add them, with the vanilla, zest and nutmeg to the lukewarm milk. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients to make a sticky medium-soft dough, being prepared to add more flour if necessary. Work in the butter and knead by hand for about 10 minutes or half the time by machine. The dough should be smoother and springier when done. Put into a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to double somewhere warm for 1 hour-1 hour30min. When ready, punch down and stretch out to fit the prepared sheet. Leave to prove for 15-20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Peel, core and chop the apples finely. Beat the egg, cream and nutmeg together and brush over the proved dough, then spread the apples over the top. Mix the sugars and allspice then sprinkle over the fruit. Top with the flaked almonds and bake for 15 minutes; reduce the oven to 180°C/350°F and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden and cooked within.
Make a runny paste with the topping ingredients and drizzle over the kuchen after you remove it from the oven.

Serves 8