Apple Spice Cake with Maple Buttercream

Ingredients

• 310ml lukewarm milk
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 75g butter, softened
• 215g brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 apples, grated
• 90g pecans or walnuts, chopped
• Buttercream: 450g icing sugar, 85g butter, 85g maple syrup

Method

1. Stir the vinegar into the warm milk and leave it 5 minutes to thicken and curdle. That is what replaces the egg.
2. Sift flour with baking powder, soda, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and salt.
3. Cream butter and brown sugar until pale, then beat in vanilla and the milk mixture.
4. Wet mixture and grated apple into the dry, folded lightly. Overmixing here gives you a tough cake.
5. Two greased 18cm tins. 180°C for 25 minutes.
6. Cool completely on a rack before icing — warm cake melts buttercream straight off.
7. Beat butter, icing sugar and maple syrup until fluffy. Sandwich, cover, press chopped nuts into the sides.