Apples and apple cake

There’s something very satisfying about using your homegrown produce to feed your family. When you grow something to eat you are aware of the time, effort, energy and even the money that has been invested into that crop and so every morsel and mouthful has even more inherent value.
Some years are better than others for different fruit crops but when you get a good year for apples you need to make the most of as much of the crop as possible. Of course a box of apples makes a lovely gift and you can use up many misshapen fruits by juicing them, but the rest need using and appreciating as quickly as possible.

I have favourite and pretty foolproof apple cake recipe that I use at this time of year. You can vary it depending on what fruit you have spare but it’s a delicious, moist cake that lasts a week or more in the cake tin, unless it gets eaten earlier.

I’m not too good at following recipes and to be honest I rarely weigh ingredients, preferring to use a fairly reliable calculation that one slightly heaped tablespoon is about an ounce (25g) and a pack of butter can be easily divided into one ounce chunks by cutting it into 8 even slices.

So the recipe goes something like this (unconventional aren’t I??), peel, core and slice 4 large apples, or 6 smaller ones, keep them underwater to stop them discolouring. Then melt 2 ounces of butter or margarine in a bowl (the microwave is handy for this but be careful and don’t have it on high, it only takes seconds rather than minutes!) Stir in 4 oz of sugar (use a little more if you’ve chosen to use cooking apples or if you prefer your cake very sweet); add a handful of sultanas (optional), two beaten eggs and mix together. Now add the sliced apple to this mixture and then stir in 8 ounces of self-raising flour, mix well so that all the apple is coated and you have a thick but smooth consistency. Spoon into a greased cake tin and place in the middle of a hot oven (about 170C). Cover with a used butter wrap for the first 40 minutes or so and then remove. It usually takes about an hour to bake in a fan oven. Check whether it’s ready by pressing down on the top, if it springs back it should be done, but it needs to look lovely and golden and smell nice too. Tip out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool. Delicious. You can add cinnamon, mixed spice or other flavours if you like, but I prefer to taste the real flavour of the apples. This makes a great dessert served warm with vanilla ice cream and is a useful and quick cake to make for visitors.