Dorset Apple Cake: the rustic English classic that deserves a permanent place in your baking rotation

Officially crowned Dorset’s national dish, Dorset Apple Cake is a treasured regional classic that perfectly showcases the county’s famous apples. This rustic, moist sponge is generously packed with tart cooking apples, delicately spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and finished with a crunchy demerara sugar topping that bakes to a beautiful golden crust. Simple, comforting, and full of traditional flavour, it’s the perfect cake to enjoy with a cup of tea or served warm with cream or custard.

Dorset Apple Cake

Ingredients

2-3 green apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin.  Use sweet apples if you prefer.
225g self-raising flour
¼ tsp baking powder
150g softened butter
75g light brown sugar
75g caster sugar
2 large beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tablespoons of milk.
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons of crunchy demerara sugar (to be sprinkled over the top before baking)

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line a slightly butter a 20cm spring-form round cake tin.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and spices together.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, light brown sugar and castor sugar together
When beaten well, add the eggs one at a time and beat again. Add milk and beat in.
When all the wet ingredients are combined, fold in all the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
If you feel the mixture is too thick add a very small amount of milk. You want the mixture to be firm and thick without being stodgy.
Now fold in the apple slices, reserving a good handful to press into the top of the cake.
Spoon the batter into your tin, place reserved apple slices on top before sprinkling liberally with demerara sugar. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Serve – with cream, ice cream or custard.