Chocolate-Apple Tea Bread

“Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.” – Judith Olney

Hi, I am back after a small break. Had been to Jammu and Kashmir for a conference. There's a lot to talk about both these cities but for now let me break my silence with a post on this tea- bread. My hubby and I hate fruits and apples top that list. But when we heard apples cost Rs 20 a kg we thought we could get some and share with friends, instead of giving them sweets (As it is Kashmiris don't have a sweet tooth). But then 5 kgs  of American apples were more than we could handle and we ended up with generous leftovers.




That's when my friend Shweta gave me a pep talk on research writing. Her allegory was that of cake making and I had an epiphany that very moment. I started dreaming apple cakes sliding over a conveyor belt to my picnic basket. I began searching for recipes and did not like the ones that came my way. I have a fondness for a blog called - passionate about baking and I had not tried any of her recipes. And when I did open her blog after a long break, there it was, her recent post was indeed a chocolate-pear tea bread. And that's what I call a halleluiah moment.

Ingredients for Chocolate- Apple Tea Bread

For Apple Sauce

Apples- 2 medium or 4 small ones peeled and sliced finely
Sugar- 2 tbsp
Lime juice- 1/2 tbsp
Water- 2 tbsp

For the cake

Plain Flour - 210 g
Baking powder 2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Butter ( unsalted)- 100g
Eggs- 2
Sugar ( Deeba used brown I used white)-  115g
Apple sauce- 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence- 1 tsp
Chopped apples- 400g
Chocolate chips- 150g

Directions

Let's begin with the sauce. Add all the mentioned ingredients for sauce in a pan and cook it for  20 minutes. I did it in the Microwave oven like Deeba did so  I had to cook it for 3 minutes and it was done. Mash the apples and you will now have a wonderful sauce. If you love cinnamon you can add a dash of cinnamon powder to the sauce, I didn't add cinnamon to my cake.

For cake preheat the oven ( I baked the cake in my microwave and it had an automated convection mode for cakes) 180 degrees. Line the bottom of your cake tin with parchment paper. I made two cakes with loaf pan dimension being ( 7.5 x 3.5x 2 inches) . Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Using an electric beater whisk the butter, sugar and eggs followed by vanilla essence and apple sauce. I didn't have choco chips but I threw in chunks of medium size that weighed 150g on an average. Fold in the chocolate chips with chopped apples.

 
My chunks were bigger than intended and so I intend to rectify this error next time. Please try chopping the apples finely because bigger chunks breaks the slices when we try slicing them. Bake the cake at 180 degrees for 1 hr in an oven and if you are using a microwave it takes nearly 40 minutes on convection mode. I have baked  6 cakes over the last four days and all I can say is it gets better every day and I have now I have reached the phase experimentalists call reliable and valid.

 

I am sending two cakes to m hubby's  office today and  I still have to bake two more loaves. I have loved the results so far and it's turning into an addiction. So all you apple lovers and haters beware this is addictive :) This post is dedicated to my friend Shweta and Deeba  from passionate about baking. Deeba thanks for doing a wonderful job through your blog, motivating newcomers like me and Shweta thanks a lot for the pep talk. You will be rewarded.