Simple apple and nut cake with vanilla pudding
Apples are one of those foods that can be found in countless varieties on supermarket shelves all year round. However, their peak season is from August to November.
- For the shortcrust and crumble pastry:
- 400 g wheat flour (type 550)
- 125 g ground nuts
- 100 g raw cane sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 250 g vegan Butter (cold)
- approx. 50 g slivered or chopped nuts
- For the pudding layer:
- 74 g (2 packs) vanilla pudding powder
- 750 ml soy milk
- 4 tablespoons of sugar
- For the apple layer:
- 1 kg apples
- 1 lemon (juice)
- Aside from that:
- Icing sugar for serving
- For the dough, first mix flour, ground nuts, sugar, and salt. Add cold vegan butter and, ideally with cold hands, work it into the flour mixture until a crumbly dough forms. Add cold water only if necessary.
- Divide the shortcrust pastry in half and spread about two-thirds of it in a springform pan lined with baking paper or greased and floured. Stir slivered or chopped nuts into the remaining pastry and refrigerate both until the other components are ready.
- To make the pudding, first mix the pudding powder with the sugar and stir it into a small amount of the soy milk until smooth. Bring the remaining soy milk to a boil, then remove it from the heat and thoroughly stir in the powder mixture. Heat again until the pudding has thickened. Then set it aside and let it cool briefly.
- Peel, core, and chop the apples into small pieces. Then drizzle them with lemon juice in a bowl, mix, and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Remove the springform pan with the shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator and prick the pastry several times with a fork. Spread the pudding in the pan, then distribute the apple pieces on top and gently press them into the pudding. Finally, crumble the remaining pastry over the top of the cake.
- Bake the apple pie at 180°C (conventional oven) for approximately 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely so the custard layer sets. Only then sprinkle with powdered sugar and slice.
This vegan apple pie with custard definitely falls into the category of: tastes like a lot of work, looks like a lot of work, but is actually super simple. And a little fun fact: Julia doesn't usually like custard at all. She doesn't find the sweet, gooey stuff that many people like appealing – but even she enjoyed this pie.
What makes the cake so easy?
- We simply use the same dough for both the shortcrust pastry and the crumble topping, so there's no need to make two separate batches. For the crumble, we just set aside a small portion and add some chopped nuts.
- The shortcrust pastry doesn't need to stay in the refrigerator forever. It only needs to chill until everything else is prepared.
- The cream consists entirely of vanilla pudding and contains no agar-agar or similar ingredients.
What should you pay attention to when baking?
- We tried it without peeling to make this recipe even easier, but it's worth peeling the apples. It makes them nice and soft.
- When making the pudding, it's best to use soy milk. Yes, it works with other milk alternatives, but unfortunately not all of them. We tested various milk alternatives, and soy milk was the clear winner. If your pudding doesn't thicken while cooking, it won't set during baking either. This is because components of some milk alternatives (for example, the enzyme amylase in some oat milks) break down the starch in the pudding powder.
- If you have a nut allergy, you can of course leave out the nuts and simply use a little more flour.
- And one more little tip: The more aromatic your apples are, the more delicious the cake will be. So it's best to get your very favorite apple variety.
Even more streusel and shortcrust pastry love
If this recipe has given you a craving for even more crumble: Our vegan crumble tarts with custard filling are the perfect next snack – crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. And if you want to practice making the perfect shortcrust pastry, you should definitely check out our basic shortcrust pastry recipe.
Once everything is sorted out, we wish you lots of fun baking!
