Spiced apple cake

A spiced apple cake that is perfect for an autumn or winter afternoon, served with a mug of warm tea. This simple recipe comes from the master himself, Yotam Ottolenghi. There’s nothing complicated about it, and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry. It’s a fairly tall sour cream cake topped with apples flavoured with warming spices. Of course, I think the apple layer is the best part; next time I would use a slightly larger tin and add more fruit, so there would be lots and lots of apples and a thinner layer of cake… I’ll leave that decision up to you, though – below is the original recipe. Highly recommended!

Ingredients for the spiced apple cake:

• 125 g butter
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 300 g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 200 g sour cream
• pinch of salt

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat briefly. Sift the flour and baking powder directly into the bowl, add the salt and sour cream, then fold with a spatula just until combined.

To finish:

• 4 medium apples, about 600 g
• 70 g demerara sugar
• 1 tsp mixed spice

Peel and core the apples, then cut them into thick slices or wedges. Place in a bowl, add the demerara sugar and mixed spice, toss to coat and set aside.

Line a 23 cm springform tin with baking paper. Transfer the cake batter to the tin and smooth the surface. Arrange the apples over the top.

Bake the spiced apple cake at 180°C for about 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

The spiced apple cake can be served warm, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!