This isn’t a super-sweet, buttery, decadent slice. It’s more for those who, like me, have reduced the total amount of sugar in their diet. When we do this our taste changes to a point where things we liked before now just taste overwhelmingly of sugar, spoiling the enjoyment of eating them. It’s also for people who enjoy slightly less obvious pleasures, like the darker taste of rye flour compared to wheat, and the delight of noticeable variations in texture, like a little lump of date lying next to a patch of tangy apple. I like to encourage these by chopping the apples in slightly random shapes, some bigger, some smaller. Life can boring if everything is too neat and precise, and the same applies to food. Let some bits of date stick up out of the batter. While they may get slightly burnt, they’ll offer a refreshingly different taste and texture experience to the bits that are tucked away, getting all soft and comfortable. When this comes out of the oven it may still seem quite wet inside, but after some time resting it will balance out and just end up very moist.
Ingredients
| 2 large | Red apples, the sweet kind, try royal gala or mariri red (Main) |
| 2 Tbsp | Lemon juice |
| 2 Tbsp | Almond meal |
| 2 | Granny Smith apples, or ballarat apples, grated |
| 1 cup | Rye meal (Main) |
| ¾ cup | Oatmeal |
| ¾ cup | Almond meal |
| 3 tsp | Cinnamon |
| ½ tsp | Mixed spice |
| 2 tsp | Baking powder |
| ¼ tsp | Salt |
| ¾ cup | Sunflower oil |
| 1 | Lemon, zest finely grated |
| ½ cup | Orange juice |
| ¼ cup | Honey |
| 1 ½ cups | Dates, chopped in half lengthways |
Directions
- Heat oven to 170C.
- Peel and core the red apples, then cut each half into 6-10 slices. Sprinkle with lemon juice and almond meal.
- Grate the granny smith or ballarat apples into another bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together until well combined. Mix in the red apple slices then spread into a 20cm square tin lined with baking paper.
- Bake for 2 hours until well browned and the apples are soft. Allow to cool then cut into squares. Store in the fridge if you're keeping it for more than a day or two.
