It's a rich, gingery cake made with loads of butter and some treacle and golden syrup and northeners eat it on Bonfire Night - or did when I was little and you could still have a village bonfire on the green with no H&S rules. I expect they're all organised now with barriers and chilli instead.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Ingredients • 130 g plain flour, • 1 teaspoon baking powder • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 120g unsalted butter, at room temperature (very soft) • 140g demerara sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake • 2 large eggs at room temp • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract / bean paste • 3 tablespoons dark rum (best) / kirsch / brandy
• 2 baking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Adding dried apple pieces can be good too. Berries are a nice addition too.
• Icing sugar (optional), for decorating cake
Instructions 1. Prep a 9-inch cake pan. Preheat the oven to 180oC.
2. Skin and dice apples. Cut small is you want subtle apple flavour and cut large if
you want to eat chunk of apple. Dust the apples / blueberries etc in plain flour -
do it now, not at the end. This is so the fruit doesn't sink to the bottom
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the
eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after
each addition.
5. Beat in the vanilla and rum. Don't worry if the batter looks grainy. Fine sieve in
the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Using a rubber
spatula, fold in the chopped apples.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with a layer of brown
sugar. A little for a light crunch subtle caramel, 2cm for a solid crunchy topping.
7. Bake for about 40 minutes (to one hr) or until the cake is lightly golden and a
knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. The more fruit you add, the
longer it will need to cook. Be aware that apples will be soft and sticky, so it can
be tricky to see if the cake batter is cooked through or you have put the knife
through a piece of apple. Batter is usually crumby and apple is more sticky on
the knife.
8. Allow the cake to cool until just warm. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the
cake and remove from the sides of the pan.
9. Using a fine sieve, dust with a little icing sugar. It's the kind of cake where the
bottom can get quite wet if you leave it in the tin (because of the apples etc).
So, to avoid getting a soggy bottom, cool on wire mesh or grill
It's a rich, gingery cake made with loads of butter and some treacle and golden syrup and northeners eat it on Bonfire Night - or did when I was little and you could still have a village bonfire on the green with no H&S rules. I expect they're all organised now with barriers and chilli instead.
Don't forget the oatmeal! (Yorkshire person here - brought up on it)
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I make upsidedown apple cake as a dessert sometimes. I think it started as a Dutch recipe, but I just used the idea and make it like pineapple upsidedown cake.
Line a loose bottomed tin, dot bits of butter and brown sugar (whatever sort you have) over the bottom and then layer on slices of apple. Eating apples keep their shape better if you want to arrange it to look pretty, bramleys just merge with the caramelly goo and taste lovely. Tip a Victoria sponge mix on top, use a 3 egg one if the tin is deep like mine, and cook. Turn out onto a plate and serve with cream. It rarely makes a second day if there's 4 of us!
Try cutting it into slices and put greaseproof paper in between the slices and freeze and take it out when needed and thaw, we always put sultanas and brown sugar in the recipe we have. Regards Peter
I have tried many different apple cake recipes and usually go for the quick Victoria sponge mix and add some chopped apples - it’s lovely as it is, or with a vanilla or maple syrup buttercream. Your recipe looks good @Fire - thanks for sharing. I have a nice spiced rum in at the moment so may well try it on the weeekend (the cake I mean!).
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Servings: 6-8 pieces
Ingredients
• 130 g plain flour,
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 120g unsalted butter, at room temperature (very soft)
• 140g demerara sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake
• 2 large eggs at room temp
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract / bean paste
• 3 tablespoons dark rum (best) / kirsch / brandy
Instructions
1. Prep a 9-inch cake pan. Preheat the oven to 180oC.