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You are here: Home / Branded Content / Easy Apple Cake Recipe

Easy Apple Cake Recipe

May 11, 2016 by Sarah Trivuncic 13 Comments

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Really easy apple cake recipe with no fancy equipment required - you can bake this Dorset Apple Cake in virtually any kitchen

Today I am sharing an easy apple cake recipe that’s so easy you can make it at home or away. This recipe was commissioned by Cottages.com with the intention it would be easy enough to bake on a self catering cottage holiday.

I’ve been serving it with custard in these little enamel dishes* – my husband said “why is it served in these – we’re not camping” and I said “no but they look nice don’t they”.

Dorset Apple Cake - ingredients

So Cottages.com asked me to create a regional bake to match one of the geographical areas where they let holiday cottages online.

This apple cake recipe is actually known as Dorset Apple Cake. I must confess Dorset is not somewhere I’ve spent much time but it’s firmly on my list after watching episodes of Broadchurch!

Dorset Apple Cake - baking with kids

My little helper got fully involved today, this is an ideal recipe to bake with kids.

Other regional British bakes you could make whilst on holiday could be:

  • Bakewell Tart (Derbyshire)
  • Treacle Tart (Norfolk)
  • Singing Hinnies (Yorkshire)
  • Snowdon Pudding (Wales)

Really Easy Apple Cake Recipe

This is a really easy recipe – probably warming the oven and weighing the ingredients will take longer than mixing it. The flour is rubbed by hand with the butter as if you were making pastry, then the other ingredients are stirred in afterwards.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps, sift the flour and cinnamon in a bowl

Mix the flour and cinnamon together.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps - add cut up butter to the flour

Add the flour and cinnamon mix to a mixing bowl with butter that has been chopped into chunks.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps - rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs

Add the butter and rub into the flour using your fingers, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps - add the sugar to the flour and butter mix.

Stir in the light brown sugar.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps - add the egg and milk to the rubbed flour, butter and sugar.

Beat in the egg followed by 6 – 8 tbsp of milk – you want to achieve a smooth, thick batter.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps - add the chopped apple and raisins to the cake mix

Add the apples and sultanas to the cake mix and combine.

Dorset Apple Cake - steps

Scrape the batter into your prepared tin (here lined with parchment paper) and gently level out. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Baking equipment in self catering cottages

In my experience, self catering kitchens tend to have a fairly standard selection of equipment. If there isn’t a baking tin in your holiday accommodation you could improvise with a pyrex glass dish* or other oven dish lined with baking parchment paper. I’ve even been known to use washed out foil takeaway containers.

Although you might not have a steel mixing bowl* as such, you are bound to have a salad bowl of some description. Or you could improvise with a large saucepan. And you can mix this cake with an ordinary table fork.

Print Recipe
4.84 from 6 votes

Really Easy Apple Cake and Custard

Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time40 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr
Course: Baking
Cuisine: British
Servings: 8 + generous slices
Author: Sarah Trivuncic

Ingredients

  • 225 g self-raising flour I used a gluten free self raising flour
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 115 g butter diced and chilled, plus extra for greasing
  • 115 g light brown sugar
  • 1 large eggs beaten
  • 6-8 tbsp milk
  • 225 g Bramley or Granny Smith apple peeled, cored and diced
  • 100 g sultana
  • 2 tbsp demerara sugar optional

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin with baking parchment.*
  • Mix the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour using your fingers, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the light brown sugar. Beat in the egg followed by 6 - 8 tbsp of milk – you want to achieve a smooth, thick batter.
  • Add the apples and sultanas and mix to combine. Scrape the batter into your prepared tin and gently level out. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool further. Best served still warm with a little custard.

Notes

If you do not have a baking tin, a pyrex dish lined with paper would suffice.

We are huge fans of self catering holidays and a cottage is likely to offer more robust cooking facilities than a mobile home. When I’m away on holiday I love to potter in local food shops and markets and buy local ingredients. It’s a real bonus to have the flexibility to cook indoors or sample local restaurants – rather than being obliged to eat out every night if you were staying in a hotel.

Properties listed with Cottages.com are vetted to match Visit England and Visit Scotland standards. You can search for cottage rentals that are dog friendly, child friendly as well as size and geographic location. At the time of writing, over 300 cottages in Dorset were offered although new ones are added all the time.

Cottages.com is the new name for Cottages4U – who had been our choice for our very first self catering holiday with a baby in tow back in 2008. We’d been able to book somewhere with a cot and high chair for our then 1 year old. This was especially welcome as we had enough baby paraphrenalia as it was.

Really easy apple cake recipe with no fancy equipment required - you can bake this Dorset Apple Cake in virtually any kitchen

I am sending this easy apple cake recipe to:

Bake of the Week – this week hosted by ME (to be rounded up by Helen next week)

Food Year Link Up – Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen (for Coeliac Awareness Week)

More Bramley apple baking recipes on Maison Cupcake

If you like this easy apple cake recipe try also…

Toffee Apple Tart

Apple Loaf Cake with Nuts and Chocolate

*Affiliate links used. This post featuring an easy apple cake recipe from Dorset was commissioned by Cottages.com. (In 2015-2016 I was also a blogger ambassador for Bramley Apples.)

This site content is free. When you purchase via referral links on our posts, including those to Amazon, we earn affiliate commission, at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for reading and please share posts you find useful!
Filed Under: Branded Content, Baking and Desserts Tagged With: apples, Bramley apples, cakes, cinnamon, dairy

About Sarah Trivuncic

Sarah Trivuncic has published recipes, restaurant and travel reviews on Maison Cupcake since 2009. She lives in Walthamstow, East London with her husband and teenager.
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Comments

  1. Jacqueline Meldrum says

    May 11, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    5 stars
    They look look appealing in those dishes. I can imagine Graham being flummoxed by it too. Fabulous looking cake and nice to see Ted in the kitchen again. Sweetheart that he is! Stumbled, pinned, tweeted, yummed and instagram liked. LOVE IT!!!

    Reply
    • Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

      May 11, 2016 at 4:21 pm

      I think Nick was thrown because usually I heat things in the oven in them or serve olives in them at the table. So to get cake and custard in them twice confused him!!

      Reply
  2. Katie Bryson says

    May 11, 2016 at 2:57 pm

    5 stars
    This looks like a lush dessert idea Sarah… loving the faff free approach to baking perfect for self catering holidays. We’ve had many happy cottage holidays in the UK, it’s wonderful when you’ve got kids to be able to set up shop in another home! Good to see Ted getting stuck in with the baking there…

    Reply
    • Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

      May 11, 2016 at 4:20 pm

      Yes he keeps asking if we can bake cakes. Not sure where he gets it from haha!

      Reply
  3. Corina says

    May 11, 2016 at 2:59 pm

    What a great cake – love how it can be served as a warm pudding with custard!

    Reply
  4. Lucy @ BakingQueen74 says

    May 11, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    5 stars
    Love this easy recipe and it is ideal for cooking while self-catering. I never know what to make when on holiday and we all need a slice of cake to make us feel at home!

    Reply
  5. Eb Gargano says

    May 12, 2016 at 11:26 am

    What a fab cake! Love your tips for making this on holiday – we love self-catering holidays – so much more family friendly than hotels but do you know I’ve never considered making a cake whilst on holiday – must try that next time! Eb x

    Reply
  6. lisa says

    May 12, 2016 at 11:45 am

    5 stars
    This looks beautiful, not only the cake but the holiday too! I agree, I love self catering holidays and it’s important to still indulge and get a bit creative when you get there. xxx

    Reply
  7. Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says

    May 13, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    What a delicious looking cake Sarah, and perfect served with custard in your cute blue dishes. #CookBlogShare
    Angela x

    Reply
  8. Camilla @FabFood4All says

    May 13, 2016 at 2:23 pm

    5 stars
    Apple cake is my absolute favourite cake and your looks fabulous, great idea to serve with custard;-)

    Reply
  9. Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says

    May 16, 2016 at 2:32 pm

    Mmmmm I love apple cake, especially with lots of custard! Delicious! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x

    Reply
  10. Kat (The Baking Explorer) says

    May 16, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    4 stars
    The cake looks so good and perfectly paired with custard!

    Reply
  11. Charlotte Oates says

    May 21, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    I love those bowls, they definitely should’t just be reserved for picnics and camping. We’re big fans of self-catering holidays too, more so since having children as it means we can ensure we’ve always got food they like and also because they simply find it too tiring eating out 3 times a day. This cake sounds brilliant for making on holiday because there always seems to be a slightly random selection of kitchen equipment and it sounds pretty easy to adapt this to whatever you’ve got.

    I’m off to Google a Snowdon pudding now as I live quite near there and I’ve never heard of it!

    Reply

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