Friday 2 October 2009

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

In the UK the first day of autumn falls in September and runs through to December and it has to be said that autumn is my favourite season! Apples come into their own in autumn, with the cooking apple being one of them. I am not short of cooking apples at the moment and my family and friends have been enjoying apple crumbles, pies and cakes galore. My mother in law has an apple tree in her garden which was brimming with apples, hence why I have enough cooking apples to keep me busy in the kitchen baking up a storm! Yesterday I received a couple of new cookbooks from my recent late night browsing session on Amazon and this recipe happened to be the first I landed on, must have been fate! This cake is incredibly yummy and is wonderful served warm with custard, cream or clotted cream.

Apple and Cinnamon Cake=A slice of comfort

Apple and Cinnamon Cake
Recipe adapted from Mary Berry's Baking Bible


Ingredients:
225g softened butter
225g light muscovado sugar
3 large eggs
100g walnut pieces, chopped
100g sultanas
225g self-raising flour
2 level tsp baking powder
400g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 level tsp ground cinnamon

To Finish:
light muscovado sugar, for sprinkling
extra chopped walnuts, for sprinkling
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180oc/Fan 160oC/Gas 4. Grease and base line a 9 inch (23 cm) deep round cake tin with baking parchment.

Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, chopped walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well for about 2 minutes until thoroughly blended.

Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin then spread the grated apple and ground cinnamon in an even layer on top. Spread the remaining cake mixture on top, level the surface then sprinkle generously with light muscovado sugar and walnuts.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours or until the cake is well risen and golden brown. Leave to cook in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

I had to share these pics of my gorgeous cat Madison whose been such a comfort to me in the recent weeks since Ollie's passing. His unconditional love for me never ceases to amaze me and his truly special! Here he is doing what he does best, being cute and posing for the camera.

"To some blind souls all cats are much alike. To a cat lover every cat from the beginning of time has been utterly and amazingly unique."

13 comments:

George@CulinaryTravels said...

Ooh Maria, I could eat a slice of that right now. I've a dish full of cooking apples too ... mmm....

Lucie said...

oh that looks lovely, so moist by the look of it. I am awash with apples too! Beautiful kitty pictures too. Lucie x

Finla said...

Wow you have a new cat. That is so so sweet. She looks so so adorable too.
Love the cake.
Mary berry recipes are always full proof.

Maria♥ said...

Thanks for the lovely comments. This cake is definitely a must bake!

Happy Cook, Madison isn't a new cat, we've had him since he was a kitten and his now 10 years old. We also have another cat called Coco whose 9 years old and we've also had her since she was a kitten. I won't be getting any new kittens for a while!

Maria
x

Snooky doodle said...

oh I love apple cake and paired with cinnamon is heavenly :)

Nickki said...

Yum, Maria! That looks like such a perfect cake for this time of year. I also have an abundance of apples so I'm going to be busy baking over the weekend! :-)

Suelta en la vida said...

I like the apples...the cinnamon...the smell of cinnamon is delicious...


Madison is very cute...

XoXo!


Magui.
http://thisismyworld2009.blogspot.com/

Coby said...

{Sigh} You know, looking at those photos, I am sure I can SMELL those aromas! Apple in cake is one of my all-time favourites and you go and add it's best buddy cinnamon? Yes please!

That Madison of yours. Sweet 'baby' face but a hint of mischief too if I am not mistaken?:)

I am glad you are finding comfort in him Maria.

Caroline said...

I love the look of your cake Maria - it looks juicy and moist, perfect to show off the autumn apples - lucky you having home grown apples! There just seems to be so much fruit available to bake with at the moment! Cinnamon is always a winner with apple too.

I was so sorry to hear about Ollie, but glad you still have Madison and Coco to comfort you.

JillyB said...

I so envy you your baking apple trees, I really miss Bramley apples and am sure that they make your cake taste wonderful.
I'm just catching up and was so sorry to hear about Ollie but glad that you've got Madison to cuddle up to.

The Caked Crusader said...

That is my kinda cake! It's been too long since I've made an apple cake....I neeeeeed apple cake!

Unknown said...

I've just made this apple cake and it was delicious - thank you for the recipe!

Emmacw said...

I made this last week... and my whole family love it. Even Hubby... who hates cakes usually! Thanks for a fabulous recipe. :-)