Friday, August 22, 2008

Apple and Sultana Tea Cake


One of my favourite Aussie chefs is
Karen Martini, currently of Mr Wolf in St Kilda. She creates great home-style dishes that anyone can enjoy. Karen was a regular writer of food features in The Age Sunday Life magazine until recently, when I understand she took maternity leave. I do miss her recipes, and hope that she comes back when her little one is older.

Recently, I made a lovely apple and sultana tea cake from one of Karen's Sunday Life features. If you like fruity cakes, you will love this. The only thing to be careful about is that, because of the high fruit content, the cake is quite fragile when it first comes out of the oven, so allow it to cool in the tin for at least 20 minutes before unmoulding. I was a little hasty, and nearly lost my cake as a result.

To make this delightful cake, you will need:

4 apples
1/4 cup sultanas
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon
140g butter
140g sugar
2 eggs
140g plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
extra brown sugar for sprinkling on top of the cake


Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease a 10 x 28cm loaf tin.

Peel, core and dice the apples. Combine the apples in a bowl with the sultanas, lemon juice, cinnamon and brown sugar, and set aside.

Process the butter and sugar together in a food processor. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then add to the butter mixture in the food processor and process until smooth. Put half the cake batter into the base of the prepared tin, then top with half of the apple mixture. Pour over the remaining batter, then the remaining apple mixture. Sprinkle the extra brown sugar over the top of the cake, then bake for approximately one hour or until cooked through.

Remove the cake from the oven, and cool it in the tin on a wire rack for around 20 minutes before unmoulding onto the wire rack and leaving to cool completely.

Cut into generous slices and serve with cream or icecream on the side, or on its own.

13 comments:

Ivy said...

I would add sultanas any time in cakes or any other recipe but my daughter doesn't eat them so I either have to omit them or bake two batches. Apples with sultana and cinnamon is a great combination.

Elly said...

This looks incredibly delicious! I just love apples. I am so looking forward to cooler weather soon to do a lot of baking with pumpkin and apples :)

Mary said...

Oh wow, this cake looks delicious!

Swati said...

Lovely cake with cinnamon, apples and sultanas.. Would love it with some black coffee..

Barbara said...

I love this style of cake.

Cakelaw said...

Hi Ivy, your daughter is not alone - I know a few people who don't like sultanas in cakes.

Hi Elly, I'm with you - apple and pumpkin in cakes is fantastic. You've reminded me that I have a lovely piece of pumpkin in the fridge just begging to be used.

Thanks Mary :) It is a really nice cake, not OTT.

One slice coming up Swati!

Hi Barbara, I like the fruity, spicy cakes too, even if they don't have the same "wow" when people first see them.

Susan @ SGCC said...

This cake looks terrific! You always come up with the best cake recipes! I would love this for a nice Sunday morning breakfast.

Dee said...

This is the kind of cake I love to bake for the kiddo's lunchbox. It's comforting and says Good Mum - I need all the help I can get *sigh*

Your mum's brownies I'll save for when the boys are away... muah ha ha

Lore said...

I just love anything with apples so your tea cake is right up my alley!

Deeba PAB said...

YUMMY...any fruit is good for me & this looks wonderfully moist & delicious!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Susan, it would be yummy for breakfast - beats Weetbix any day.

LOL Dee - the boys can have the goodness of fruit, and you can enjoy the chocolate later.

Hi Lore, I like baked goods with apple too.

Yes Deeba, this cake is lovely and moist.

The Caked Crusader said...

This is all my favourite flavours rolled into one cake! I am printing the recipe off ASAP!
Thanks for sharing

Rosie said...

A scrummy tea cake you have here cakelaw - all those combos of flavours makes it just perfect!!

Rosie x