I’ve mentioned before that the apple trees in my garden produce an abundance of apples at this time of the year. This recipe is an ideal way for me to use them up, but of course any eating apples that you buy will be just as good. I often double up the quantities and bake two cakes, one for eating immediately and one for the freezer.
Ingredients
- 155g butter (at room temperature)
- 150g golden caster sugar
- 5 medium eating apples (peeled and grated)
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 300g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg
- 200g sultanas
- 100g chopped walnuts
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C /160°Fan / 350°F / Gas 4
- Grease and line cake tin approx 20cm square
- Whisk together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
- Peel and grate the apples and stir into the mixture
- Mix in the eggs
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, cinnamon and grated nutmeg and stir into the apple mixture
- Fold in the sultanas and walnuts
- Mix in the lemon juice
- Spoon mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 45-60 minutes. Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean your cake is cooked, it should be light brown and springy to the touch
- Leave to cool for 5-10 mins before turning out onto a cooling rack
- When completely cool, sieve some icing sugar over the cake to give it a light dusting
- Serve either with warm custard, cream, crème fraiche or ice cream for a delicious dessert