Hi Rise Apple Cake

When I am looking through recipe books or online for recipe inspiration, I tend to skim over the ingredients thinking ‘got that, got that, haven’t got that – move on’.  Normally it won’t be long until I am inspired, and find a recipe that I have all the ingredients for. 

I have to admit that when I scanned the list of ingredients for this cake I didn’t look at the measurements.  Had I seen that TWO cups of sugar were required, plus a CUP of oil, I might have moved on to healthier pastures.  But alas, I missed all that and ended up cooking a cake that I would have usually passed by. 

Now when a cake’s ingredients can make you swear out loud (wait until you take a whiff of apples + sugar + cinnamon in a bowl) you know you’re onto something good.  Since I am in the family way I managed to stop myself from licking the bowl (apparently the unborn can’t handle a little raw egg) but again the smell was heaven sent (or scent? I can’t decide).

So a warning for you - make this cake, but make it when you know you have people around to share it with.  It takes quite a while in the oven (90 minutes +) so you could even bake it the day before you need it, which would give it time to release even more of it’s apple-y goodness and taste delightful.

You’ll need a bundt tin or tube tin for this recipe (these are the ones which produce a hole in the centre of the finished cake).  I didn’t have either of these so I just used a deep round tin, which was fine except that my cake took 120 mins instead of 90 to bake! 

  

Ingredients

6 apples (any variety)

1 tbsp cinnamon

5 tbsp sugar

2 ¾ cups plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

¼ cup apple juice

3 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

Directions

Preheat your oven to 180°C.  Grease and line your bundt/tube tin with baking paper.  Peel, core, and chop your apples into chunks.  Place in a bowl with the cinnamon and sugar, mix well, and set to one side.

Sift your flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.  In another bowl, use a fork or whisk to bring together the oil, sugar, juice and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and bring together with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Add your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Tip half of the cake mix into your prepared tin, then half of the apples on top.  Add the remaining mixture and then top with the last of the apples, ensuring you have pretty good coverage across the top of the cake.

Bake for 90 mins (or up to 120 mins if using a regular round tin – keep checking it) or until the old skewer test comes out clean.  Allow to rest in the tin for 10 mins before removing to cool on a wire rack.