Apple, chocolate & walnut cake decorated with marzipan

Spring is in the air! ;-)

This colorful cake was made using one of my most favorite "glutencakes" ever: chocolate, apple and walnut cake. Of course I made a glutenfree version of it, but the original recipe has been a long favorite of mine. Because it is foolproof and it is so incredibly tasty. I used to make it for every birthday and it was a hit every single time. 

Here's the recipe for the chocolate, apple and walnut cake. I covered a simple cake with a bit of vanilla buttercream and then decorated it with marzipan. The bug & butterfly (made of the same cake batter) were made with a small cakemould and then covered in marzipan. 

Ingredients:

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of chocolate
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of walnuts
• 2-3 apples
• lemonjuice
• 2 x 0.5 a teaspoon of cinnamon
• 3 + 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 125 (4.5 oz) grams of butter
• 150 (5.5 oz) grams of light caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 jar of sour cream (125 ml/ 4.5 fl oz)
• 250 grams (9 oz) of rice flour
• 10 grams (0.35 oz) of cream of tartar
• 7 grams (0.25 oz) of xanthan gum

Instructions: 

1. Grease a cakemould & the bug & insect mould (if you want to make the cake you see above) or (for just a simple undecorated cake) a rectangular pyrex bowl.
2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
3. Chop the chocolate & walnuts to small pieces. Peel the apples, remove the core and chop them into tiny pieces or grate them.
4. Mix the apples with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
5. Make the cakebatter by mixing the soft butter, caster sugar, eggs, sour cream, xanthan gum, cream of tartar and riceflour. Add the apple, chocolate and a third of the chopped walnuts to the batter. (If you make the cake as shown above, add all the walnuts and the extra sugar and cinnamon at this stage)
6. Pour the batter in the cake moulds or the pyrex bowl. If you make a simple undecorated cake, mix the remainder of the nuts with half a teaspoon of cinnamon and two tablespoons of granulated sugar and sprinkle on top of the cake.
7. Put the cake in the oven and bake them for about 50-60 minutes until golden. 
8. Leave it to cool before you cut the cake in squares (re: the one in the pyrex bowl) or before you decorate your cake with vanilla buttercream and marzipan.