chunky apple and pear cake

It genuinely could be an Autumn day here in Belleau. We had three whole weeks in May where the sun shined so gloriously that it spoilt us a little and now the weather has turned it’s set a mood across the village.  It’s not just the persistent rain but it’s actually cold today too.  Nevertheless The Viking is still braving it out in the garden.  He just gets itchy if he can’t get out there and there’s rabbits in the flowerbeds so he’s on a mission and I couldn’t stop him if I tried. What I can do however is bake.  This chunky apple and pear cake is ideal to warm the cockles of the soul and turn any gloomy day into a little bit of indoor sunshine.  OK, so it’s a very autumnal cake but it’s a perennial favourite here at the cottage and seeing that today feels like the midst of October I’m fine with it.

The cake is super-easy to make and the batter works equally well used in muffin cases. Obviously the baking time needs to be reduced. It also works using stewed fruit – I made it with stewed apples and rhubarb which was wonderful. It’s rather wet though so if you’re going to use stewed fruit I would suggest baking it on a lower temp for longer.

• 500g apples and pears – peeled and diced
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 175g butter – at room temperature
• 2 large free-range eggs – beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 125g self raising flour
• 125g ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon – I’ve used the amazing cinnamon from BuyWholeFoodsOnLine.com

Pre-heat the oven to 170C and grease and line a 20cm-22cm round loose-bottomed cake tin

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – this should take roughly 5 mins in a stand mixer or about 10 mins with a wooden spoon. Then sprinkle in the cinnamon.

Add half the beaten eggs into the batter along with half the flours and beat in for a minute. Once combined, repeat with the remaining egg and flours, then add the milk to slacken the batter slightly.

Fold in the apple and pear chunks and try and stir it all together.  It will be quite stiff but this is how it’s supposed to be.

Spoon in to the cake tin and then line the top of the cake with finely sliced apple segments and brush with melted honey or apricot jam.

Bake for anywhere between 45 minutes and 1 hour, checking regularly to see if it’s cooked through by inserting a skewer.  Once it’s ready, remove from the oven and let it cool completely in the tin.  If it’s still a bit wobbly but the apples are looking to burn then make a little foil hat for the cake and place it on top whilst it bakes and firms up.

Eat and of course enjoy!