It’s that time of year for lovely autumnal fruits. We were lucky to receive some apples from a neighbor’s tree. I wanted a recipe that would use the apples in a way that would be suitable for freezing, so I trawled through my cookbooks and came across a Cinnamon and Apple Cake recipe from Leith’s Baking Bible. This recipe is for a whole cake, but I altered it to be suitable for smaller, freezable portions – cupcakes!
Cinnamon and Apple Cake (my way)
200g peeled apples (I used Bramleys) coarsely grated
170g soft dark brown sugar
100ml vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg beaten
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
Line muffin tins with 24 muffin/cupcake cases. Heat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F.
Place the grated apples into a large bowl and stir in the sugar, oil, vanilla and egg.
Sift in the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Stir together until just mixed.
Drop the mixture into prepared muffin/cupcake cases about 3/4 full.
Bake in the oven for approx 25 minutes, or until well risen and the tops spring back slightly when touched.
A skewer through the center of a cake should come out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
When cooled, you can divide them into freezer bags to keep for future treats and snacks.
They are great in lunch boxes with a bit of cream cheese.
Alternatively, you could top the cake with a mascarpone frosting with a bran flake sprinkled with edible gold dust and demerara sugar for a very autumnal presentation.
