As blessed with natural treasures as our paradise island is, it is not gifted with heaving apple trees laden with glossy fruit. We do however, are blessed with supermarkets who are generous enough to offer amazing discounts on apples!
Apples were on discount the other day. Hence this luscious, delicious cake.
The apple has been the subject of many myths and legends. Often viewed as the symbol of knowledge and immortality, it is also seen as the symbol of temptation and sin, as referred to from the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. However, an apple in the hand of Christ symbolizes life and in Norse mythology, apples were sacred fruits and symbols of rebirth and beauty. For Celts, apples were precious and were symbols of purity, goodwill and integrity. So what better way to start the year than with a slice of this wonderful cake?
Chock full of fruits and perfumed with spices, this wonderful cake will help you celebrate the coming New Year with a sense of abundance that will usher in good vibes and prosperity in the many days to come.
Honestly, it’s almost embarrassing how easy it is to make this cake. It’s simply a matter of mixing it all up and popping it in the oven!
- Yield: 10 servings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Apple cake
Ingredients
- Flour - 2 cups
- Baking powder - 2 tsps
- Brown sugar - 1 ½ cups
- Butter - 1 cup
- Eggs - 2
- Apples - 4 cups, cored, peeled, cut into pieces
- Raisins - ½ cup
- Cinnamon - ½ tsp, ground
- Ginger - ½ tsp, ground
- Clove - ½ tsp, ground
- Vanilla - A dash
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275C. prepare a 1o inch round nonstick cake pan.
- Sift together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add in the spices and the vanilla. Beat in the eggs until smooth and fluffy.
- Gradually add in the flour. Once fully incorporated, fold in the apples and the raisins.
- Pour into baking tin and smooth over. The mixture will be quite dense.
- Bake at 250C for about 15 minutes until the top of the cake is dark golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- You will know that the cake is ready by the wonderful smells teasing your nose :)
Honestly, I bake this cake just to send those seductive spicy notes somersaulting through the house. It instantly cheers me up (and puts on a few kilos around the belt also).
The top is honey-gold with the weathered skin of wise old men while the insides are daintily dappled just like the skin of a new born babe. Moist and crumbly, the cake is chock-a-block with all those fruits swarming inside, vying for attention. The wetness of the yielding apple, the more stubborn raisins plumped up in the oven pop with flavor squirting tangy sweetness that goes well with the sweetness of the apples. The vanilla-kissed insides play with the spices – the cinnamon, clove and ginger, chasing one another, piercing through the mild sweetness, enveloping the appley goodness, reminding you of mellow afternoons kissed by the setting sun.
Personally, I think it would be a shame to start a New Year without having a bite of this simple, but delicious cake. Serve for tea or as dessert with a good dollop of cream or ice cream. You will be thankful you tried.
Baking tips
- Use an apple that you would like to eat. I’ve found that tarter apples tend to work best with this recipe for a refreshingly sweet & tart taste.
- I peel my apples for this. However, if you do like a bit of a bite in the cake, you can use the apples without peeling.
- There are no hard and fast rules about the amount of spices used in the cake. Use more for a spicier cake and less for a mild one.
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