Autumn flavours // apple & lemon cake

I adore this time of year. The freshness of the morning air that can only be described as crisp. The colours of the leaves turning to goldens, reds, oranges and everything in between are just glorious. And the way the boughs of trees hang heavy with fruit, ready to shed the life they have grown over the past months means deliciious, locally grown food on our table.

I was very grateful for a friend who has an apple tree in her garden, who willingly allowed me to go and pick the ripe fruits from her tree last week for my baking and chutney making exploits. The majority of the apples went into this apple and lemon cake that a friend introduced me to a number of years ago now, and it has remained my favourite apple cake recipe every since.

The quantities listed below make enough mixture for an 11" x 14" rectangular pan, which is a big old cake. Alternatively, you could halve the quantities and make a 10" round cake.

Apple & Lemon Cake

ingredients

225g self raising flour

225g plain flour

340g unsalted butter at room temperature

340g caster or granulated sugar (or mixture of brown and white sugars works well too)

225g sultanas

680g apples (either dessert apples or cooking apples work fine)

4 eggs

zest and juice of 2 - 3 lemons

demerera sugar for sprinking

method

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease and line your cake tin / pan of choice

2) Peel, core and chop the apple, then cover in the lemon zest and juice. 

3) Combine the flours, sugars, eggs and butter in a mixing bowl and beat until well combined.

4) Add the lemony apples & sultanas, and stir until incorporated.

5) Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

6) Leave the cake in the tin to cool for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

7) Sprinkle the top of the cake with demerera sugar while still warm.