madbaker | What's the difference between a sultana and a raisin?

Becoming a sultana is every dried fruit's currant raisin d'ȇtre.

This week's Resolution Recipe: German Crown Prince's Apple Cake.
"This delicious pudding closely resembles a modern American-style cheesecake, but retains the fruity sharpness of juicy apples."

1 oz / 25g butter
2 oz / 50g browned breadcrumbs
1.5 lb / 675 g dessert apples (I used a combination of Granny Smith and some random apple we got in our CSA box)
6 oz / 175 g sugar
5 eggses, beaten
3 Tbsp ground almonds (I used almond "flour")
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 oz / 50 g sultanas (Known in the US as golden raisins. I used currants as the wife does not like raisins.)
whipped cream (I used whipped creme fraiche as the curvy upstairs neighbor does not care for regular whipped schlag.)

Line a 7" cake tin with greaseproof paper, spread the butter thickly around the inside and coat with the breadcrumbs, tipping out any of the surplus.

Peel, core, and finely chop the apples, put them into a pan with sugar and eggses and stir continuously over a gentle heat (lies!) until they become thick and creamy, but not set to a curd. Remove from the heat and dip the base of the pan into a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking, and prevent the eggses from setting firm. Stir in the remaining ingredients, pour into the prepared cake tin, cover with a sheet of (greased!) paper, and bake at 350 for about an hour, until the cake has set firm through to its centre. Remove from the heat and set in a cool place until cold.

Turn the cake out onto a ~~silver~~ dish, coat with whipped cream, and serve cold.

Source: Peter Brears, The Petworth Book of Country House Cookery

What worked: This recipe looked interesting when I got the book from the library; it was one of the two I copied. (The other was Oeufs en Soubise.) Anyway, this turned out better than I expected. We all liked it quite a bit, with the fuzzy upstairs neighbor opining that "You could make this again."

I wouldn't say it was like cheesecake in texture but it did have a lovely apple flavor and was not too sweet. I got tired of mincing apples so some of the later pieces were a bit larger, but they provided nice apple notes. (I might use the fud processor to grate most of the apples and hand-mince a couple.)
The whipped creme fraiche, being a bit sharper than schlag, set off the apples beautifully. The wife decorated the sides with slivered almonds and that made it look nice. It would go well with tea or coffee in the afternoon. Barberries or chopped sour cherries would also be a good substitute for the sultanas.

What didn't: Most of the recipes are early 20^th century and the book seems to have been produced for the gift shop, since the house is run by the National Trust. This means that it is sparse on history and simply has favorite recipes the family dined upon when they were still living there as a private estate.

The recipe isn't kidding when it says to grease the tin thickly. I used spray oil along with parchment and the cake stuck; the breadcrumbs seemed to have no particular effect. Also, I didn't grease the top paper and it stuck. Fortunately the schlag covered over the holes and made it look polished rather than "a bit of a mess," as Mary Berry might say. I'd use a removable-bottom tin next time and much as I kind of hate doing it, probably use butter to grease the tin. I might forgo the breadcrumbs.

I took "gentle heat" literally and it took quite a long time for the eggses to thicken. Eventually I just started turning up the heat while stirring. (The eggses went from runny to thick in about two seconds; fortunately I was paying attention.)

Will I make it again? It's going into the recipe box, yes.