I woke up yesterday morning with the words apple pie cake still lingering in my head between layers of sleep and a rapidly evaporating scene involving two turnips who twalked (talked and walked). Tip : cheese before bed, is rarely a good idea. Especially cheesecake.

Since twalking turnips are too challenging to conjure up, I settled on making the apple pie cake of my dreams. Rifling through the internet over a bowl of warm oatmeal revealed that such a singular thing did indeed exist. In its many forms, it is a well known Russian dessert, a Dorie Greenspan or Martha Stewart recipe, and also something that resembles apple pie filling between layers of frosting and butter cake. For the purposes of this dessert exercise, I chose the Dorie Greenspan route.

If you find the decision between having pie or cake a particularly taxing one, this recipe cleverly has a foot in each realm. The pastry tastes just so, but with a cakey consistency. Its baked craggy bumps and folds and that gentle lifting scent of warm cinnamon brought to mind the pies I never baked cooling on window sills of houses I never lived in. Seemingly heavy stuff, but not really. Just something incredibly easy to make, enjoyable to eat and pleasing to share. Below is the recipe, a down-sized version of the original which made 18 servings and seemed like overkill even to the two pie lovers of this household.

Apple Pie-Cake :
(a down-sized version of a recipe from Baking by Dorie Greenspan)

For the dough :
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 cups plain flour

For the apples :
4 large green apples
juice of 1/2 lemon
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 generous teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the dough, place the butter and sugar in a mixer and beat until smooth. Add the egg, lemon juice and pinch of salt, beating to combine. Add the flour and baking powder and slowly mix until the dough comes together. Add a few more tablespoons of flour if the dough looks too wet. Wrap the dough and chill for at least 2 hours before using.

When you are ready to roll the dough, first prepare the filling. Peel, core and slice the apples roughly 1/4 inch thick. Toss with the lemon juice, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, then set aside.

Cut the dough in half and roll the first half to fit a 8 or 9 inch pie pan. Line the pan with the dough. Pile the sliced apples on top of the dough, then roll the second half of the dough as a lid. Crimp or press the edges of the pastry together. Cut a few slits on top of the pastry and sprinkle with extra sugar and cinnamon if you wish. Bake in a preheated 180’C oven for approximately 1 hour, until the pastry is golden brown (cover loosely with foil if it appears to be browning too quickly, half way through the baking time).

So last week I decided to give up sugar for a week. Initially my plan was to go sugar-free for two months, but The Boyfriend rolled his eyes and suggested I first try it for a week before launching into any unrealistic, grandiose statements. He was right of course. He knows me too well!

In case you’re wondering how it went, well it’s not easy coming to any healthful conclusions after only being sugar-free for a mere week (the primary instigator for this little experiment was a few articles I read recently about why we should eat less sugar). I have however learned a few things, mostly about myself. Firstly, that I love fruit. Despite expecting cravings for cake and chocolate during my sugar-free week, it was actually fruit that I missed the most. After one week (or six days, if we need to get all technical and judge-y) I panicked at the thought of missing out on the trailing end of what has been a great stone fruit season. The first piece of fruit I bought and ate, albeit a slightly underripe white nectarine, tasted absolutely heavenly.

Secondly, food tastes especially good when it has that balance between all the elements we associate with flavour; a little bit salty, a little bit sweet, or bitter, or sour. Which explains why nuoc cham and teriyaki are some of my favourite sauces. It also explains why I’m unexcited at the thought of continuing this experiment for another week, let alone two months.

Our household already tries to eat as few additives as possible and it’s pretty much standard practice for me to reduce the sugar content in the recipes I use. As Ellen Degeneres once said, “Life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada.”

Trail-Mix Oatcakes :
Not too long ago, I happened to make these not-very-sweet oatcakes topped with some trail mix. They were the perfect segue into my sugar-free week.

125g plain flour
125g stone-ground oatmeal
pinch of sea salt
pinch of baking soda
40g sugar
60g butter
water

to sprinkle on top : your choice of a mix of dried fruit, toasted nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Place all the dry ingredients (except for the trail-mix) in a bowl. Rub in the butter, then add enough water to form a soft dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to roughly 5mm thick. Sprinkle the trail-mix over the dough and lightly press to ensure they adhere. Use a pastry cutter (size of cutter is up to you; I used a 5cm diameter one here) to cut round circles of dough. Scraps of dough can be rolled again and cut. Arrange the cut circles on a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated 190’C oven for 10-15 minutes. The oatcakes will be lightly golden and tender.

Tip : You can decrease or omit the sugar in this recipe for a more savoury oatcake to enjoy with cheese or as a platform on which to build a quick snack – maybe sliced avocado with sprouts and herbed yoghurt cheese!

I’ve been having mixed feelings about all this pleasant weather we’re experiencing. Firstly, it’s too sunny. Unless you’re Mariah Carey, you don’t earn any friends by walking around with your umbrella up on a hot Summers day. Just ask the guy who yelled, “It’s not raining!” out of his car window at me.

But all this sunshine is also allowing the balcony garden to go from strength to strength. I have cress growing on our kitchen window sill, and pea sprouts planted in a random collection of containers outside. The sprouts take less than a week from planting to harvest and taste utterly delicious. Well worth the non-effort.

Most of the greens have ended up on our dinner plates. Occasionally, I’ve baked herb tartlets or scones for a snack. This morning, I thought I’d give Proust’s aunt a run for her money and made a batch of savoury madeleines, flavoured with brown butter, cheese and a mixed bunch of herbs I gathered from the garden.

If you don’t have a mini madeleine tray, you can also bake these in small financier tins or as mini muffins.

Herb and cheese madeleines with mustard yoghurt :
(makes 1 tray of mini madeleines)

For the madeleines :
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
70g butter
50g plain flour
pinch of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs or sprouts
2 tablespoons grated parmesan or cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 200’C. Grease and flour the mini madeleine tray, tapping out any excess flour.

Melt the butter in a small pan, cook it until it turns a nut-brown colour then carefully strain it into a bowl to cool down.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in an electric mixer on high until very light and fluffy. With the mixer running on low, drizzle in the browned butter. Fold in the flour and baking powder, followed by the chopped herbs and grated cheese. Pipe or spoon the mix into the prepared madeleine tray and bake for 4-5 minutes until cooked. These are best eaten warm.

For the mustard yoghurt : Mix 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard with 4 tablespoons of thick yoghurt. Season with a pinch of sea salt, pepper and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve in a little jar for dipping. class=