Disappeared into a frenzy of baking, cooking and pickling this afternoon. I hadn’t done that in ages and it felt so good! Two jars of Kimchi made as well as a big pot of Carrot and Ginger soup. A loaf of Brown Bread with Pumpkin Seeds was made to accompany the soup. And for a treat, I made a Dutch Apple Cake.

A while back, I used bake this all the time – served with lashings of creamy, piping hot, custard. We got tired of it so I stopped making it. Going for coffee at a pal’s house the other day, I decided to make it again. It got the thumbs up from both my lovely friend and her husband.

It’s a comparatively slow bake cake – soft on the outside with a crunchy top. While I usually used white sugar on the top, I used brown sugar for a change and it was a very delicious addition.

Why is it called ‘Dutch’ Apple Cake? I have no clue. I think it is the addition of one of my favourite spices, cinnamon.

Ingredients
4 ounces, soft butter
4 ounces, castor sugar
8 ounces, plain flour
2 tsp, baking powder
1-2 tsp, ground cinnamon
½ tsp, vanilla essence
3 ½ fl oz, milk
2 medium eggs
2 large apples (e.g. Pink Lady – if you like a little crunch or Royal Gala if you like a softer apple), cored, peeled and cut into small chunks
2 tbsp, sugar (white or brown)

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 160C degrees (non fan)
2. Grease a cake tin (10 inch)
3. Sieve flour, ground cinnamon and baking powder together
4. Beat the eggs, milk and vanilla essence together
5. Cream the butter and sugar until pale
6. Add the beaten egg mix in three stages, combining each time
7. Add the dry ingredients in three stages, combining each time
8. Put half the cake mix into the tin
9. Sprinkle the apple pieces on top
10. Cover with the remaining cake mix
11. Sprinkle the sugar over the top*
12. Bake for 40-50 minutes (check with a skewer until it comes away clean)**
13. Turn onto a wire rack to cool (top size up)
14. Serve warm with whipped cream or custard

* I love cinnamon. I used bake the cake without it and when cooled, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top
** I place tinfoil loosely over the top at the half way mark to avoid burning.