HELEN GOH APPLE CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake or pie pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper and butter that as well.
• Pit the peaches and cut into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Arrange the slices in a pattern on the bottom of the pie pan.
• Combine 1/2 cup/100 grams of the sugar with 1/4 cup/60 milliliters of water in a saucepan or skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture turns amber, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and pour this caramel evenly over the peaches in the pie pan.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and nutmeg, and set aside.
• In another medium bowl, beat together the butter and remaining 3/4 cup/150 grams sugar until light. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Stir in the flour mixture. Spread the batter evenly over the peaches and caramel.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until top is golden brown and cake is set. Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Run a knife around the sides, place a platter on top and invert the cake onto the platter. If any of the peach slices stick to the pan, lift them off carefully and replace them on top of the cake. Serve the cake warm or cooled to room temperature, with crème fraîche on the side.

Steps:

• Note: You can leave out the baking powder and bicarb if dietary requirements make that desirable, but in that case, I'd use a 23cm tin instead and expect it to need slightly less cooking time.

  Put the whole orange or oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft. Drain and, when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips. Then pulp everything – pith, peel and all – in a food processor, or see below if you're proceeding by hand.

  Once the fruit is cold, or near cold (though actually I most often cook the oranges the day before I make the cake), preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C. Butter and line a 20cm springform tin.

  Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the orange in the food processor. Run the motor until you have a cohesive cake mix­ture, but still slightly knobbly with the flecks of puréed orange. Or you could chop the fruit finely by hand, and with a wooden spoon beat the eggs one by one into the sugar, alter­nating with spoons of mixed ground almonds and cocoa, then the oranges, though I have to say I've only ever made this the lazy way.

  Pour and scrape into the cake tin and bake for an hour, by which time a cake tester should come out pretty well clean. Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or indeed it may need a little less than an hour; it all depends on your oven.

  Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold you can take it out of the tin. Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated zest if you so wish, but it is darkly beautiful in its plain, unadorned state.