I'm about to share one of my favourite ever cake recipes with you. It's been hugely popular in the Odd Socks household for as long as I can remember and believe me when I say it is amazing. It smells fantastic when you're making and baking it and it tastes even better when you're eating it. Plus it's got apples and sultanas in so it's practically healthy!
You will need:
5oz/125g margarine
2 large eggs
8oz/225g sugar (the recipe does say caster but using half caster, half demerara will make it more interesting)
8oz/225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond essence
Sultanas (if you like them. The original recipe didn't have them so they're not absolutely vital)
12oz/350g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1oz/25g flaked almonds
Demerara sugar
Grease and line an 8inch loose-bottomed cake tin. I used a square one instead of a round one because the cake was intended for a picnic and it's easier to take big chunks of cake than it is dainty triangles, but you can go mad and use whichever shape you want.
Melt the margarine.
Mix together the margarine, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and almond essence in a bowl, until the mixture is smooth. It'll look different to a sponge mixture - much thicker - and will smell DIVINE.
If you like sultanas, chuck in a liberal handful and stir a bit more. I love them.
Plonk half the mixture in the tin and level it off.
Layer the apple on top of the mixture. You can err on the generous side here because it never looks as much once it's cooked. I also sprinkle in a few extra sultanas and flaked almonds.
Spoon the rest of the mixture into the tin and top with the flaked almonds and a generous sprinkling of demerara sugar.
Cook at Gas Mark 3/325 F/160 C for about 1 ½ hours, until the top is golden brown and the middle is cooked through.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin. This version is gluten-free (and dairy free. Hurrah for Vitalite!) so doesn't rise quite as much as a normal one would but that makes no real difference. It's still gorgeous. I do thoroughly recommend it as a g/f recipe though because the consistency holds up really well.
Chop into big chunks and enjoy. It's amazing warm, either by itself or with ice cream. Mmmm, crunchy sugar topping...
