Autumn spice - Apple spice cake

Enjoy a steaming hot cup of tea with a large slice of apple spice loaf cake

When we took on our allotment I was so excited to see all the fruit trees and bushes and dreamed of the days I would be able to make and bake with them. Fast forward 7 months I have more fruit than I can shake a stick at!

Even though the black currant and gooseberry bushes didn't fruit this year, which was probably a blessing we have the freezer filled with raspberries, rhubarb, black berries and now apples have joined in too along with plums and greengages. The family have had their fill and I even resorted to bagging up fruit and leaving it on the end of the driveway for those passing to take home.

So with this in mind I have been looking at different ways to use all the different fruits and ways to store it. I am conscious of my sugar and fat intake so where I am able to I adjust the ingredients to cut the calories. Using fruit adds in sugar anyway so I will use less added sugar than most recipes call for or swap it out for monk fruit sugar substitute.

I use pure sweet, its my preferred choice as there is no aftertaste or the cooling effect you get with some sweeteners. You use the same quantity as normal sugar, however with the spiced apple cake I would use less next time as I did find it too sweet.

I have made raspberry, plum and greengage jam. I used half the quantity of sugar in the plum jam which did taste a little tart but I quite like it like that. I used the normal quantities of sugar in the other jams which everyone loves. I have also canned apple sauce so I can store that in the cupboard rather than squeeze more into the freezer.

With all the apples we now have coming in I looked at making an apple cake, there are so many different recipes online. I found a traditional apple loaf cake, which when I made it, I was worried it would be heavy and stodgy however it was so light and moist. The family have enjoyed this and said it would be lovely with custard if it were to go stale (there's never any left to go stale!)

The kitchen smells amazing when this cake is baking with the aromatic spices. You can add any spice that you prefer, I added 1 tsp of ground cinnamon and half a tsp of mixed ground allspice.

You could also use pears or plums instead of the apple and add some mixed dried fruit too.

However you choose to make this cake, it will not last long in the cake tin that's for sure!

This freezes well so you can enjoy it at anytime of year.

The ingredients in brackets are the alternative option for lower calories

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Apple spiced autumn

cake

Ingredients

200 grams caster sugar (175 grams monk fruit sugar substitute)

200 grams plain flour

150 grams unsweetened stewed apple

100 grams melted butter (100grams olive oil)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground all spice

2 large eggs

1 tsp rolled oats (Optional)

Method

1. preheat oven 170c/325f/gas mark 3 (160f for fan oven)

2. Line a 1lb loaf tin or you can use a square or round cake tin and reduce the cooking time by 10 minutes

3. Add the eggs and sugar to a mixing bowl, if using an electric whisk or free standing mixer, beat for a couple of minutes until the mixture is slightly pale and thick. Beat for a little longer if doing by hand.

4. Add the stewed apple and mix until thoroughly blended.

5. Add the flour, baking powder and spices and mix thoroughly together.

6. Add the melted butter slowly to avoid it splashing out of the bowl and mix well

7. Pour the batter in to your cake tin and sprinkle on the rolled oats

8. Bake for 50-60 minutes depending on oven and baking tin used

   Mine is a fan oven and I bake in loaf tins for 60 minutes and a square cake tin for 50 minutes.

9. Remove from the cake tin and place on a cooling rack

Enjoy!

Freshly baked homemade apple spice cake shaped in loaves, with one sliced, cooling on a wire rack.