This is a recipe from my great-aunt Alison, who is a fabulous cook. The only draw-back is that in New Zealand the amounts are in cups. You can just use a smallish mug if you don’t have a measuring cup, but they are really useful (and easier to wash up than scales), so I’d recommend getting one.
It’s a very dense, pudding-y kind of cake, and goes really well with a blob of crème fraiche or yoghurt (although it’s just as delicious for a cheeky snack or unorthodox breakfast).The mixture may seem alarmingly thick, almost like dough, but do not fear! It’s meant to.
I made a double batch because I was doing two cakes, and actually the recipe makes quite a small cake, so you could double it, make it in a loaf-tin and have a big one, you’d just need to cook it for slightly longer to make up for being thicker.
2 medium apples
1 ½ cups of flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
½ cup melted butter
½ cup sultanas or raisin
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
½ cup walnuts (actually I used pecans because I’d eaten all the walnuts, and they were just as yummy)
1 tablespoon milk
Peel and coarsely chop the apple and put ¾ of it in a bowl with the sugar, toss it about and leave for 10 mins. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, and add the sultanas and nuts.
Beat together the butter and egg with a fork. Add it to the dry ingredients with the milk, stirring til just combined into a thick dough. Stir in the apple and sugar mixture until combined.
Press into a greased and lined 8” tin, and sprinkle the remaining apple on top.
Cook at 180C for 50-55 minutes. Cool for 10 mins in the tin and then let it cool on a wire rack.