Dorset Apple Cake

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Apple and Sultana Cake, Apple Cake, Apple Crunch Cake, Dorset Apple Cake

Skill level: Easy

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings: slices

Calories: 407kcal

Author: Amy Treasure

Delicious and fresh Dorset Apple Cake with sultanas and a crunchy sugar topping. Served warm with a big dollop of custard, this cake is the ultimate comfort food.

Print Recipe

Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

300 g apples (about 4 apples) peeled and cored
½ lemon juiced
225 g self-raising flour
2 tsp cinnamon
150 g unsalted butter cold
150 g light brown soft sugar
2 large eggs
6 tbsp whole milk
100 g sultanas
3 tbsp demerera sugar

Instructions

Peel and core the apples and chop them into small chunks of 1-2cm. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon to stop them from going brown.
Combine the flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the butter and use your fingertips to rub it into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in the brown sugar then in a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Tip the eggs into the bowl and stir everything together. The ingredients will look more like a paste than cake batter.
Pour in the milk and beat well until you have a smooth and thick batter. Add a splash more milk if your batter is very thick.
Tip in the chopped apples and sultanas and fold through the mixture.
Transfer the batter to a 20cm baking tin. Use a spatula to even out the top then scatter over the demerara sugar.
Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Leave to completely cool before releasing from the tin. Serve hot or cold with cream, custard or ice cream.

Video

Notes

Don’t make the chunks of apple too big as they won’t bake properly and will be hard. 1-2cm chunks are best.
Use cold butter straight from the fridge.
Rub the flour and butter together until it resembles fine bread crumbs and doesn’t have any lumps of butter.
Add an extra 1-2 tablespoons of milk if your batter is very thick. The perfect batter should be dropping consistency – the batter should drop from the spoon with some reluctance.
Use cake release (like this one) or line your tin with baking paper and grease it with butter so the cake doesn’t stick to the sides.
For a crunchy topping use demerara sugar, the large crystals ensure a good crunch!
Leave the cake to completely cool in the tin before turning out otherwise the crunchy topping will crack.
Storage: Wrap in clingfilm or tin foil and store in an airtight container. Dorset Apple Cake will keep for 2 days.
Freezing: Wrap tightly and freeze for up to 6 months.

Nutrition