Simply Big Apple Cake

A week or so ago was the last time I was able to go to the open air Farmers Market in the village of Irvington, just before they closed for the winter. I’ve been visiting them on and off since Summer graced us with its blazing heat and, as we shiver here in the damp chilly early days of winter, that seems a lifetime away

Beautiful selection of apples from Wrights’ Farm

I thought I might look for something really basic but synonymous with my home state, with which to prepare one of my favorite but simple, deliciously moist and crumbly cakes to warm everyone at home up. Namely, the humble Apple!

We are now at the tail end of NY’s apple season, with masses of varieties not so common to our friends in London with funky names like, Macoun, McIntosh, Empire and Cortland all available and much to my delight, I found a great selection on a stall from Wrights’ Farm of Gardiner NY. I selected some of their scarlet skinned Cortland Apples, whose slightly less sweet, snow white crisp flesh is perfect for baking

Back home, ingredients assembled within just an hour and a half, the cake was done. My kids came inside and started “ooh’ing’ and “ah’ing” at the scrumptious aroma of baked apples and citrus, which form the backbone of this moreish cake. Minutes later, a couple of hefty slices were gobbled down!

Ingredients assembled

Ingredients

12 oz self raising flour (or plain flour plus 3 x tbsp baking powder and 1 tsp of salt)
8 oz butter
6 oz sugar (granulated, or caster )
3 large eggs
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange
4 oz golden raisins / sultanas
1lb cooking apples (I used Cortland variety), peeled, cored, then cut into 3/4 inch cubes

Ready to mix?

Method (15-20 mins prep)

Place the flour, butter,sugar, eggs and grated citrus rind in a large bowl, beating into a thick and smooth mixture
Add the golden raisins and chopped apples, stirring until evenly distributed
Then, pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch deep cake tin and smooth level
Bake in a moderate oven 350 f / 185 c for 1 and 1/4 hours until the cake is golden brown and firm, remove from the the oven and sprinkle immediately with sugar