Dorset apple cake

By Bettybug

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 2 Granny Smith apples
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup caster sugar, plus extra for dredging
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons ground almonds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from deliciousmagazine.co.uk

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 355ºF. Grease a deep springform cake pan – I used one with removable bottom - and line the bottom with baking paper.

Peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm pieces, and toss with the lemon juice.
Using an electric hand whisk or stand in mixer, cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.
Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and fold in with the ground almonds. Drain the apple pieces well, then stir into the mixture.
Spoon into the prepared cake pan, lightly level the top and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar. Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream, if you like – I served it with thick yogurt.