Apple tea cake

This cake reminds me of my Nan. I don’t know if it’s a recipe she made frequently, or if it was just truly memorable when she did! Good ol’ fashioned country cooking.
This recipe is ideal for a round 20cm diameter cake tin. I used a 24cm tin and multiplied the ingredients by 1.66 (because to double it I needed 6 eggs and I only had 5) — but since it doesn’t multiply neatly, I’ll just give you the quantities for a 20cm tin.

Apple Tea Cake

185g butter, chopped and softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup milk
2 apples

Glaze

1 tbsp water
15g butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Grease and line a 20cm cake tin and preheat the oven to 175ºC.

Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and one egg at a time until fully combined. The mixture may curdle a little by the time you get to your third egg — don’t worry, it’ll all turn out fine in the end.

Stir in the flours and milk, and pour into your prepared tin.

Peel the apples and cut into quarters. Remove the cores and cut into lengthwise slices 3/4 of the way through. Arrange apples, cut side up around the edges of the cake.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 – 60 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

To make the cinnamon glaze, place all the ingredients in a small pot on the stove and simmer over low heat for two minutes. When the cake is done, remove from the oven and unmould onto a wire rack after about five minutes. Brush the warm glaze over the cake and serve with ice cream or double cream (or both!).

View our recipe conversion guide for further hints and tips.