Dorset Apple Cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 200 g flour
• 150 g brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp gingerbread spice
• 1 orange(s), zest and juice
• 2 large eggs
• 80 g margarine or oil
• Milk
• 1 large apple, peeled and finely diced
• 100 g raisins or sultanas
• 100 g walnuts, coarsely chopped
• possibly rum
• powdered sugar
• apple juice
• Walnuts

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

Apple pie from southern England

Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the eggs and then stir them into the dry ingredients with margarine or oil and a little milk. Briefly heat the raisins or sultanas with the orange juice (you can also use rum) in the microwave until softened. Fold them into the batter along with the finely diced apple and walnuts; do not stir again! Now pour the batter into a prepared dish – the recipe is for a 20cm springform pan, which will make the cake quite tall. You can also use a 24cm springform pan, which may shorten the baking time. I have also baked the cake in a loaf pan. I bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 40 minutes; after 30 minutes, I cover it to prevent it from overcooking. Once cooled, you can glaze the cake with powdered sugar and apple juice, for example, and decorate it with walnut halves or roughly chopped walnuts. The cake keeps quite well and still tastes delicious after several days, but it’s also great for freezing. Note: I got this recipe from a friend in southern England; it’s her version of the regional apple cake. In Dorset, however, every family probably has its own recipe—often using different nuts or omitting the raisins.