Description
This is a fantastic cake to make during early autumn which brings together sharp cooking apples, toasted hazelnuts and brandy-soaked sultanas.
Ingredients
Scale
- 100 g sultanas
- 1 tablespoon of brandy or apple brandy (or apple juice)
- 225 g butter
- 350 g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 500 g cooking apples (eg Bramley)
- 100 g of toasted hazelnuts (finely chopped)
- 175 g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- a little white or brown granulated sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 180 C, 400 F or Gas Mark 4.
- Put the sultanas in a ceramic bowl and add the brandy or apple brandy. Put in the microwave to heat for a few seconds and then set aside. The sultanas will plump up as they absorb the alcohol. If you do not want to use alcohol, you can use apple juice as a substitute.
- Grease a 20 cm loose-bottomed cake tin. If your tin is not non-stick, line the base with a circle of grease-proof paper or baking parchment.
- Cut the butter into small cubes and put it into a large bowl. Sift in the flour and cinnamon.
- Rub the butter into the flour, either by hand or using a food processor, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Peel the cooking apples with a vegetable peeler, remove their cores and roughly chop.
- Add the chopped apple, plumped-up sultanas, chopped hazelnuts and sugar to the mixture. Then stir in the eggs.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin. Place it in the oven for one hour until it is golden and firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin on a cooling rack. You can sprinkle granulated sugar (white or brown) on the top of the warm cake to give it a crunchy topping.
Keywords: apple cake, apples,