Dorset Apple Cake

Late summer/early autumn is Bramley apple time. I am lucky enough to have a Bramley apple tree in my garden. One of my favourite apple recipes is Dorset Apple Cake. I love this cake because it’s not too sweet and the contrast between the crunchy outside and the warm soft apple inner is just scrumptious!

I used flour from Wessex Mill, eggs from Haresfield Farm in Wiltshire (via Eades of Bath), lemon from Eades of Bath, butter from Netherend Dairy and the rest of the ingredients are from my local zero-waste shop and the garden.

INGREDIENTS (DEPENDING ON PORTION SIZE, SERVES 10)

• 225g softened farmhouse butter (plus a little extra for greasing)
• 450g Bramley apples
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 100g light brown muscavado sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 organic, free-range eggs
• 225g plain flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 25g ground almonds
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• icing sugar to dust

METHOD:

• preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4 and grease a 20cm deep cake tin with butter and flour

TIP: if your tin is quite shallow, line it with some baking parchment at the bottom and make a baking parchment ‘collar’ to prevent the cake from overflowing when it rises (grease these with butter)

• peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm chunks and toss with the lemon juice

• with an electric beater, cream the caster sugar, light muscovado sugar and butter together until its pale and fluffy, add in the lemon zest and beat again

 

• beat in the eggs, one at a time (this makes sure the mix doesn’t split)

TIP: if your mix starts to look like it has split when you have added the last egg, don’t worry. When you add in the flour and it will be fine!

 

• sift in the flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon.  Add in the ground almonds and fold all together

• remove the apples from the lemon juice, add to the cake mix (leave a few to the side) and fold together

• add the mix to the prepared tin, gently level it off, press the remaining apple chunks into the top and sprinkle with a  little demerara sugar

• bake in the oven for about 1 hour, until the cake has risen. To test the cake, pierce it with a skewer.   If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. If the cake starts to look too golden during cooking, lightly cover with some aluminium foil
• once cooked, remove the cake from the oven. Then take the cake out of the tin and allow to cool on a cooling rack
• to serve, place on a large plate and dust lightly with icing sugar