So one of my neighbors and my family occasionally give "gifts" to one another. Well, for the last couple of "exchanges" (they give us something, couple weeks later we give something to them, and couple weeks later they give us something... it's mostly the mom and I... hehe.) we've been cooking food and giving them to each other. So today I come home from Literary Journal and this was on the table. It looked like a foccacia bread, but really oily so I decided not to eat it (really oily foods make me queasy, ever since--meh) but then my mom later asks whether I've tried the neighbor's (I didn't know who made it at first, just thought it was someone from the restaurant) food so I came back down to try it. 'Cause afterall, their past foods were... Delicious.
So this is slightly sticky. Because it's not savory, no, it's SWEET. Looks like a foccacia bread, but besides that, it's more of a cake. Upon eating it, it tastes slightly like sponge cake. The baked kind. Must be the eggs. And it has a pleasant sweetness, flavored by APPLES. The apple's sweetness isn't sugary-sweet, no, it's the fruity kind. There's a difference. It's slightly tart too, so I'm having a yellow apple in my mind. Or perhaps green apples. But not Granny Smith, because it isn't THAT tart. Just a hint of it. And the subtle flavor of the cinnamon and almonds compliments the simple (yet complex if you think about it) flavor of the apple. And I managed to refrain from eating the whole piece (pictured here) as I'm typing. I see some (barely noticeable) brown specks (cinnamon?) and some extra fine white sugar. The texture? Pleasantly soft and moist, like cakes ought to be. And the cake around the apple isn't soggy. The apples themselves are small pieces/slices, soft enough to go with the cake, yet it was still had the "apple-crunch" to give the cake additional texture. And the almonds, they aren't mushy. Nope, they're slightly firm, but pretty soft. Yet it still has some "crunch" to it to give it a nice contrast in texture to the cake. I really liked this cake. And I still like it. A lot. Never have I eaten a cake having so many flavors, all complimenting each other. Actually, not limited to cakes. Nothing is overpowering, it's just... *smiles* Usually I eat things that are just "sweet," the sugary-sweet. This is why I like fruits a lot, the sweetness is more... Complex. Yet simple. I can't really think of anything to improve on for this. It's... Perfect.
Just how good is this? Good enough for me to actually "inspire" me to grab my camera and set everything up as well as type all this up.
Looks like I have a long way to go to catch up with my neighbor.
If anyone has a good recipe for this (or at least the name of this) I'd really appreciate it.


Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 15:07 on January 27th, 2009
Ever thought of asking the sweet neighbor, who took the time out of her day to make this for you? I'm sure she would be really flattered if you did!! Hey -- once you've crossed that hurdle -- how about sharing with the rest of us who are impressed with only the photo and have not had the pleasure of smelling and tasting this gorgeous dessert???!!!
Good Luck!
Donna