I had promised Luca we would bake a cake after school. A promise is a promise and anybody familiar with 5 year olds would know children don’t forget a promise. I picked him up from school and one of his friends invited him to go to his house, I don’t have to tell you he was torn between the prospect of baking a cake, which he loves doing, and going to play at his mate’s house. As it turned out, I had two little helpers rather than one.

We baked apple cake.

Ingredients: 3 or 4 apples, cinnamon, lemon, 300gr of flower, 200gr of brown sugar, 4 eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, baking powder.

Finely cut the apples and place them in a bowl with a spoon of brown sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon and lemon juice to avoid them going black. Mix the eggs whole without separating the yolk and the white with the melted butter, then add the sugar blending with a fork or a whisk, grate some lemon peel into the mixture. Slowly add the flour mixing with care so that no lumps are left in the mixture, add the milk (about half a glass), then add the yogurt and the apples. Leave some apples out if you wish to decorate the cake with apples on top. Add the baking powder mixing carefully. Cook on a preheated oven at 180° for 30 minutes.