Sometimes the most simple cake is all that is needed to share with those you love … and this cake is certainly one of those!

My dear neighbour Annemaree brought us a half size version of this cake (baked in an 18cm round tin) a couple of weeks ago when my sister from Adelaide was with us.  The cake was not only delicious … but was eaten in one sitting!

Annemaree was given the original recipe by parents of friends in Victoria and kindly shared it with me.  It is an old recipe (not sure how old!) … and you certainly don’t need any fancy equipment or special ingredients for it.  Just mix “wet” with “dry” and bake.

I did a tiny little “fiddle” with the ingredients, and I doubled the recipe as this is the perfect cake one would bake if in a hurry and needing to serve a few people (i.e. work morning teas, school fetes, family gatherings, etc.).

Whilst I always try to use fresh fruit when baking I realise that isn’t always possible when you’re time poor, can’t get to the shops, and have to rely on pantry staples.  So this cake works particularly well with “pie apple” (Ardmona brand) which you can buy at any supermarket.  But having said that this cake is fabulous too using fresh apples … so I have done both to show you the results … they taste identical, but the version using the pie apple is easier to cut into precise slices, whilst the fresh apple cake has apple chunks throughout so the slices are not so straight.

And it is worthwhile noting that when testing this recipe I made one for a friend to share with his grandchildren, so I took the step of adding 250g of toasted walnut halves (which I lightly chopped) into the mix along with the butter/eggs, and then baked it as normal.  When I delivered the cake I was lucky enough to enjoy a piece with a nice cuppa, and to be honest this version is hands down my favourite but due to nut allergy in my family that is not an option, but I will definitely do this when baking for others.

NB:  when testing this recipe I used six medium “Granny Smith” apples which I peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks, and their weight was exactly the same weight as the large tin of pie apple (800g) needed for this recipe.   I did this twice and each time the weight of the six apples came to 800g or just very slightly under, so aim to use six apples and no less.

The cake keeps well at room temperature for a few days and goes particularly well with creamy custard, or freshly whipped cream seasoned with a touch of vanilla extract or paste.

Thanks Annemaree!

Apple Spice Cake

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour 20 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

A slightly uneven slice from the fresh apple cake

Whilst I always try to use fresh fruit when baking I realise that isn't always possible when you are time poor, can't get to the shops, and have to rely on pantry staples. So this cake works particularly well with "pie apple" (Ardmona brand) which you can buy at any supermarket. But having said that this cake is fabulous too using fresh apples ... so I have done both to show you the results ... they taste identical, but the version using the pie apple is easier to cut into precise slices, whilst the fresh apple cake has apple chunks throughout so the slices are not so straight.

And it is worthwhile noting that when I was testing this recipe, I made one for a friend to share with his grandchildren, so I took the step of adding 250g of toasted walnut halves (which I lightly chopped) into the mixture along with the butter/eggs, and then baked it as normal. To be honest this is hands down my favourite version (I was lucky enough to have a piece with the grandchildren!), but due to nut allergy in my family that is not an option, but I will definitely do this when baking for others.

NB: when testing this recipe I used six medium "Granny Smith" apples which I peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks, and their weight was exactly the same weight as the large tin of pie apple (800g) needed for this recipe. I did this twice and each time the weight of the six apples came to 800g or just very slightly under, but aim to use six apples and no less.

The cake keeps well at room temperature for a few days and goes particularly well with creamy custard, or freshly whipped cream seasoned with a touch of vanilla extract or paste.

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 12 to 14 serves

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 400g golden caster sugar, or plain caster sugar
• 420g self raising flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes
• 250g walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped (optional)
  
  

Wet Ingredients

• 1 x 800g tin "pie apple" (I used 100% apple pieces by Ardmona), or
• 6 x medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks
• 250g melted butter, cooled but still liquid
• 2 x 60g eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
  
  

For Dusting

• Cinnamon sugar

Instructions

1. Melt the butter and put aside to cool (for ease I did this in the microwave)
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced, and arrange rank into middle of oven
3. Grease and line a 24cm (base measurement) round cake tin
4. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl
5. Place "pie apple" pieces or fresh apple pieces (and walnuts if using) into a separate large bowl (this is where you will do your mixing)
6. Add eggs and vanilla to melted butter and mix together well with a fork
7. Pour over the apple (and walnuts if using) and stir through
8. Add the dry ingredients to the apple mix and combine well together
9. Place batter into cake tin and level top (if using fresh apple the batter will be a little stiffer so ensure you lightly press it into the base of the tin to get to all the edges)
10. Put tin into oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, test, then add another 5 to 10 minutes if necessary (it takes exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes in my oven but test a touch early just in case)
11. Remove cake from oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes in tin before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely
12. Dust with cinnamon sugar and serve

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