Wash 2 apples and grate them skin-on into a bowl. You should have 400 grams or 3 cups of grated apple from two apples. Lightly squeeze out some of the juice so that the apples are not sitting in their own juice. Reserve the juice as we will make a syrup with it. You should be left with 300g (2 ½ cups) of grated apple plus the juice.
Place 100g(½ cup) of juice along with 25g(2 tbsp) brown sugar and the juice of ½ a lime into a small saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil it.
Turn the oven to 170°C or 340°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and also cut a circle of baking paper to put on the bottom. Then butter the paper too. Trust me and just do it.
Prepare two large mixing bowls. One for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients.
Sieve the dry ingredients apart from the sugar into one bowl and add the flaked almonds. Give it a good whisk so that everything is evenly distributed.
Mix together the wet ingredients, brown sugar, and grated apple in the other bowl. Mix well so that it's homogenous and even.
Fold the flour mix into the wet mix little by little.
Mix it gently until you have a uniform even cake batter.
Pour the mix into the buttered springform cake pan.
Place into the oven and cook until a thermometer placed into the centre reads 90°C or 194°F. This can take anything from 40 minutes to an hour depending on your oven, so keep an eye on it and don't just let it be. Otherwise, tears may follow.
When done, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, still in the cake form. Stab some holes all over the top with a wooden skewer.
Warm up the syrup and drizzle all over the cake making sure you get it evenly spread out.
Let the cake cool down completely before removing, placing on a flat plate or cake stand and then, finally and optionally, dusting with icing sugar.
Notes
You can peel the apple if you want or cut it with a knife into chunkier slices. Cubes or wedges won't work as it's too heavy for the cake batter to hold. You can also substitute the apple for pear, carrot, pumpkin or beetroot to name a few.
You can use gluten-free cake flour instead or substitute it for almond flour to make the cake gluten free.
Freshly grated nutmeg will have more flavour than pre-ground packaged nutmeg.
You can add any other nut or seed instead of almonds. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and pistachios all work well. With the nuts make sure to chop them roughly into smaller pieces.
You can use any fat. Oil gives the fluffiest texture while butter makes it richer but slightly more crumbly in texture. You can use any oil. Neutral like sunflower or extra virgin for an interesting taste.
Most baking recipes call for large eggs. This recipe uses whole eggs. An egg yolk weighs 20 grams and the white 30 grams. If using pasteurised whole egg use the gram measurements of 50 grams per egg. 200 grams egg = 4 whole eggs.
I use brown sugar because it helps keep the cake moister and also adds some warming molasses notes that pair well with the spices. Feel free to use regular white sugar instead. You can also make it sugar-free by using your preferred sweetener instead. Just make sure to add it to taste.
Apple sauce keeps the cake moist and boosts the apple flavour. Feel free to substitute for yoghurt, sour cream or any other fruit or vegetable puree.
Store airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. For longer storage, this cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.