Cranberry & Apple Cake with A Secret Ingredient: Cheese!

What do you do with a bunch of leftover cheese? Well, make cake, of course! This cake was inspired by a haul of Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese that we acquired on a trip to the Wensleydale Creamery in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Of course, you can use other cheeses – more on that below.

Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries is known for its sweet and fruity profile, combining creamy, crumbly Yorkshire Wensleydale with the sweetness of cranberries. Fun fact: Wensleydale Creamery sources their cranberries from the U.S., probably Wisconsin, the country’s largest cranberry producer, and fittingly, a state famous for its cheese. It’s as if my Midwestern routes have met the UK in a cheese-inspired sweet treat – how appropriate!

I had the good fortune of acquiring some windfall apples in Yorkshire at the same time, adding to the terroir of the final cheese cake creation. That said, any apple will do – I think these were cooking apples, but I’ve also made the cake with Granny Smiths which worked well.

Other Cheese Ideas

Of course, if you don’t have Wensleydale & Cranberries, you could substitute with a similar cheese and dried cranberries. Here are some ideas:

• Mild / young cheddar + dried cranberries – A younger cheddar will have the familiar sharpness of Wensleydale balanced by sweetness from the cranberries. Dice the cheddar finely or grate and toss in flour so it doesn’t all sink.
• Sharp cheddar too! + dried cranberries – The cheddar/apple connection has been a thing since the 17th century, where settlers in New England served apple pie with a slice of strong cheddar. So why not try it here? A mild cheddar will be more like Wensleydale, but I reckon sharp cheddar will appeal to cheese lovers who like a strong flavour bomb from their cheesy pursuits.
• Roquefort – yes! and sultanas. We seem to have a habit of acquiring cheese on our travels, and so we had to try this recipe with Roquefort, acquired from Roquefort itself. It was amazing! Check it out: Roquefort and Apple Cake. (Could be made with any blue cheese.)
• Gouda or Comte + dried cranberries – Creamy, mild, slightly melty. The mind naturally wonders how smoked gouda would work here – a risk but it could be a delicious smoky apple taste sensation!
• A combo of ricotta or [drained] cottage cheese with with a sharp cheddar + dried cranberries – I haven’t tried this but I could see the ricotta bringing a welcome moisture to the cake.

Also, why stick to cranberries? I imagine any other dried fruit would work – currants? Goji berries? Apricots? Go wild!

Yorkshire Wensleydale, Cranberry & Apple Cake

5 from 1 vote

Inspired by a visit to the Wensleydale Creamery earlier this month. The magic ingredient: cheese! Specifically Wensleydale with Cranberries. But you can substitute with other cheeses and cranberries. See my suggestions below. Note: you can sub the self-raising flour for plain (all purpose flour) plus 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 150 g butter at room temperature
• 175 g golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 tbsp milk
• 175 g self-raising flour I used Gluten Free Dove’s Farm Self-Raising Flour
• 2 apples peeled, cored, sliced
• 125 g Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese
• 1 tbsp Demerara sugar

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 170 °C (325 °F) / Gas Mark 3. Grease an 8-inch (20 cm) springform cake tin, or line a suitably sized tin (I used a large loaf tin).
2. Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, ideally with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, or you can do this by hand with a wooden spoon.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time, then mix in milk and sifted flour.
4. Fold in about ¾ of the apple slices, then crumble the Wensleydale & Cranberries over the batter.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin. Arrange the remaining apple slices on top. Sprinkle Demerara sugar over the surface.
6. Bake for ~55 minutes, until risen and golden. Allow to cool in the tin.

Notes

If you don’t have Wensleydale, try substituting with an alternative cheese and a handful of dried cranberries (or other dried fruit). Grate or crumble the cheese before adding to the cake, obviously!

• Mild / young cheddar
• Young or semi-mature gouda
• Ricotta or mascarpone + a sharper cheese