The ultimate apple cake by Anna Barnett

Meet Anna Barnett, celebrated cook and food writer. She’s put together her ultimate apple cinnamon cake for your next festive dinner party and created the ‘host with the most’ gift guide, for the host extraordinaire in your life.

Cinnamon Apple Cake Recipe

Caramel

200g brown sugar

55g butter

sprinkle of sea salt flakes

130ml double cream 1

/4 tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions – Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a medium-low heat until no longer grainy; 4-5 minutes

 

Cake

knob of butter to line cake tin sides and base

20g brown sugar to line tin and to scatter over top of cake

650g cooking apples, peeled, cut into half moons

squeeze of lemon juice

40g light brown sugar

80g raisins/sultanas, soaked in brandy/hydrated with a splash of boiling water

 

Batter

150g butter, room temp

100g caster sugar

2 eggs, room temperature, beaten

240g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

1tsp ground cinnamon sugar

zest of 1 orange

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees conventional heat
• Line the base of a 20cm cake tin. Butter the sides and then sprinkle over brown sugar, so you have an even coating
• Prepare apples as noted and combine with lemon, sugar and mix with raisins (once these have been soaked)
• For the batter, first cream together the softened butter and sugar and then fold in your eggs
• Combine the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and orange zest and fold into wet mixture until you have a fully combined batter, it will be fairly stiff
• Spread half of the batter onto the bottom of your cake tin.
• Add 3/4 of your apples on top of the batter, followed by the remaining batter then neatly arrange the remaining apples in clusters across the top of the batter
• Scatter the top with remaining brown sugar
•  Bake for 50-60mins or until golden and the batter is cooked. Prick with a knife, it should come out clean
• Once cooked, transfer to a cooling rack, allow to cool a little before serving.