Let’s face it, it’s getting colder, the days are lasting less and less and Christmas is only round the corner. Autumn, if not winter, has already arrived. What best way to face it than with a nice, warm, comforting and soothing cake? Apples are in season, so they provide a cheap and tasty base to work with. Cinnamon is a natural pairing for apples and helps boost their natural flavour, not to mention evoke that conforting and warming Christmas-y feeling.
The cake is very easy to whip up. If you have a freestanding mixer, you can just put everything in there. Otherwise, use a handheld one and a bowl.
Ingredients
- 175g unsalted butter, softened
- 175g light muscovado sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 270g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 eating apples (I actually used 3 and a half)
- 2 tsp apricot jam (to glaze)
- 1 tsp demerara sugar
Method
- Line the bottom and butter the sides of a 20cm round cake tin. Pre-heat your oven to 190C.
- In a freestanding mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar, then gradually beat in the eggs, adding a tablespoon of flour if the mixture curdles.
- Add the vanilla extract, then the rest of the flour, followed by the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Once thoroughly combined, spread the mixture into the prepared tin.
- Now prepare your apples. Halve them all, then core them and peel them. Run the prongs of a fork on the back of each half or use a knife to slightly score the surface, then arrange on top of the cake.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden, puffed up and cooked through. Check with a skewer.
- Take the cake out of the oven and brush with the apricot jam. Sprinkle the demerara sugar on top, then serve with some custard or vanilla ice-cream.
Baking with Attitude 