Thistly Cross Cider and Apple Cake (Robert Frowley)

The brains behind the recipe is Liggy Morgan, founder of Liggy’s Cakes. She lives on the farm that produces Thistly Cross cider, the inspiration for this treat.

Come on, you know you want to abandon healthy eating, just for a wee while. Or just tell yourself this cake contains apples, which surely means it’s one of your five a day!

You’ll need:

150g unsalted butter
100g golden syrup
100g dark muscovado sugar
1 large Bramley apple, peeled, cored and cut into slices
250ml bottle of Thistly Cross Original Cider
(or similar)
120g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
225g plain or spelt flour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/150C fan/gas mark 3/325F. Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with waxed parchment paper.

2. In a heavy-based saucepan melt 25g of the butter with the syrup and the muscovado sugar until you have a syrupy texture. Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin and layer the apples side by side on top of the mixture. Put to one side.

3. Heat the cider in a pan until boiling and then simmer until it roughly halves in volume. Pour into a big shallow dish to cool it quickly.

4. In a large bowl, cream the rest of the butter and caster sugar and gradually add in the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the baking powder, spices and flour and add the cool cider. Mix well to incorporate the cider with the batter until the mixture is smooth.

5. Pour into the tin on top of the apples and bake for around 30 minutes before turning out on to a serving plate to cool.

See liggyscakes.co.uk for further information on Liggy’s show-stopping cakes.

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