Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Autumn well and truly began here yesterday. 




It felt as if suddenly the trees had begun to shed their leaves and blanket the pavements and fields in yellows and reds. The air was colder and had a sharper bite to it, and it rained. Typical.

Where I live, we have plenty of horse-chestnut trees. 

And that means plenty of conkers.

Conkers are the seeds of the tree and they come encased in a really prickly shell. I've found the only way to get the seed out from the middle is to stamp on them or throw them really hard onto the ground.
Anyway, the conker season comes hand in hand with apple season. I snacked on the sweetest red apple yesterday - so good! But the cake we will bake today uses those green, sour, cooking apples of which I received a bag full from my aunt a few weeks ago. This Apple and Cinnamon Cake immediately sprang to mind as I had bookmarked it as one to try as soon as Autumn began.

A buttery, brown sugar sponge between a layer of cinnamon tossed apples which melt into the cake as it bakes - throw in a few raisins and walnuts, if you wish and you have the most satisfying cake to go with your morning tea (or coffee!)

Apples, previously: Apple Crumble, Toffee Apple Crumble, Cinnamon Apple Muffins, Apple, Ginger and Cranberry Crisp, Apple Turnovers, Chocolate Apples, German Hazelnut, Coffee and Apple Cake 

A Simple List of Ingredients:

1. Butter
2. Light Brown Sugar
3. Eggs
4. Raisins
5. Self-Raising Flour
6. Baking Powder
7. Cooking Apples
8. Ground Cinnamon 
9. Icing Sugar

Bismillah, let's begin!

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 160 degrees fan or 180 degrees.


Grease and line a deep, round 23cm (9 inch) cake tin. I put it onto a baking tray to make it easier to get in and out of the oven.

First, we will prepare the apples. I used green cooking apples, freshly picked but Granny Smiths would do too.

Take 400 grams (14 ounces) Cooking Apples. I ended up using 5.

Peel them.

Roughly chop and core them. They will go brown but don't worry about it.

Grate them using a box grater. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

This cake is uses an all in one method which makes it really quick to make.

So, into a large bowl, place 225 grams (8 ounces) Light Brown Sugar.

Crack in 3 large Eggs.

Add 100 grams (4 ounces) Raisins or Sultanas. You could also add 100 grams of chopped walnuts, if you're a fan.

Tip in 225 grams (8 ounces) Self-Raising Flour.

Finally, add in 225 grams (8 ounces) Butter, softened.

Beat everything together for 2 minutes until well combined.

Spread half the batter into your prepared tin.

Stir 1 level teaspoon Ground Cinnamon into your grated apples.

Place them over the batter.

Level them out.

Dollop on the remaining cake batter.

And, spread it out. If some of the apples decide to mix themselves into the batter, it's completely fine!

Sprinkle over more Light Brown Sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for around 1 and 1/4 hours or until golden brown and well risen. 

Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Before serving, dust liberally with Icing Sugar.

This cake was so good. The apples melted into the sponge to make one delicious, moist cake. And, the raisins provide a juicy bite every now and then. Serve slices with hot custard, clotted cream or just simply, with a mug of tea.

Full Written Recipe:

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Adapted from a recipe by Mary Berry

Ingredients – slices into 8 large slices

225 grams (8 ounces) Butter, softened

225 grams (8 ounces) Light Brown Sugar

3 large Eggs

100 grams (4 ounces) Raisins or Sultanas

225 grams (8 ounces) Self-Raising Flour

2 level teaspoons Baking Powder

400 grams (14 ounces – about 5 apples) Cooking Apples, peeled, cored and grated

1 level teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

For the Topping

Light Brown Sugar, to sprinkle

Icing Sugar, to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 160 degrees fan or 180 degrees.

Grease and line a deep, round 23cm (9 inch) cake tin.

Put the butter, brown sugar, eggs, raisins, flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Beat well for 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix together the grated apples with the ground cinnamon.

Spread half the cake batter into the cake tin. Top with all the grated apples. Finally, spread on the second half of the batter.

Sprinkle with more light brown sugar.

Bake for 1 ¼ hours – 1 ½ hours or until well risen and golden brown.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out, peel off the baking paper and cool on wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar and serve with custard, whipped cream or clotted cream. Enjoy!

This Time Last Year:

Tamarind Chutney

Keep me in your duas, please,

Wasalaam!