Apple, Almond and Thyme

Welcome to another episode of cake vs cookie and today the flavours are apple, almond and thyme. So far, we've seen lots of success and a few weird flavour combinations. I think that today's flavours might be a winning combination to take over the crown from orange, tarragon and honey and, I don't think I'll be making anything with banana, coconut and ginger for a while until I figure out how to do it correctly.

Take a look at the other episodes below...

Let's take a look at the recipes for today...

Cake vs Cookie

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1) Cake

Apple and caramelised almond with thyme buttercream

Part 1: The Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 100g Light Brown Sugar
• 100g Vegan Butter
• 1x Red Gala Apple
• 50g Almonds
• 1x Tbsp Honey
• 2x Tbsp Apple Sauce
• 1x Tsp Baking Powder
• 100g Self Raising Flour

How To:

1. Preheat your oven to 200/C and line a cupcake tray with 12 cases
2. Grind up the almonds and put them in a pan with the honey, cooking them until slightly browned and soft
3. Cream together the butter, sugar and grate the apple in too
4. Add the caramelised almonds and mix together until combined
5. Add the apple sauce and mix together again
6. Mix together the self raising flour and the baking powder and fold this into the wet ingredients - creating a cake batter
7. Scoop into the cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes
8. Once out of the oven leave to cool, then transfer the cupcakes to a plate and place them in the fridge

Part 2: Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 100g Vegan Butter
• 5g Dried Thyme
• 1x Tsp Vanilla Essence
• 200g Powdered Sugar
• 2x Tsp Your Choice of Gel Food Colouring

How To:

1. Whisk up the butter, vanilla and the thyme for five minutes
2. Add the sugar and food colouring and whisk again for a further five minutes
3. Place in a piping bag and pipe your cooled cupcakes
4. Place back int he fridge for 10-15 minutes
5. Enjoy your cupcakes

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2) Cookie

Apple and thyme cookie with a roasted almond filling

Ingredients:

• 25-30 Almonds
• 50g Light Brown Sugar
• 120g Vegan Butter
• 200g Plain Flour
• 1x Red Gala Apple
• 5g Dried Thyme

How To:

1. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper and preheat your oven to 200/C
2. Scatter the almonds on one of the trays and bake for five minutes
3. Whilst this is happening, mix together your butter, sugar and grate your apple into the mix
4. Add the thyme and flour afterwards, mixing together again to form a dough
5. Chill the dough for five minutes in the fridge
6. Roll out the dough and cut into shapes, placing a roasted almond in the middle of each
7. Bake the cookies at 200/C for about 13-15 minutes
8. Once cooled, you can ice them or leave them as they are - but if you're going to ice them then you'll need them to cool in the fridge for 15 or so minutes after they come out of the oven and have stood for five minutes on a counter
9. Enjoy your cookies!

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If you want to know, it was a draw. My mother couldn't decide which one was better and she said it was her favourite flavour of the bunch!