Apple Shortcake Loaf

I seem to have rather a lot of apples in the house at the moment. I have an apple tree in the garden which has still lots on it which need picking and I also bought some Bramley apples a couple of weeks ago, mainly because they were on the reduced shelf at Tesco and at 15p I just couldn’t leave them.

I have avoided baking recently due to trying to diet but this has been my birthday week so the diet has gone by the board until a later date.

I like to do basic cakes,  nothing clever or fancy. Just tasty!

This is how I made my Apple shortcake loaf.

I like to prepare my apples thus:

After peeling, cut the apple in half with the stalk and bottom of the apple  to the left and right

Cut along the star shape and remove the core from each segment. This way less apple is wasted when removing the core.

I then dropped each piece in cold water until all the apples were prepared to help prevent them going brown. Pour off all the water except for a small drop and either microwave or put in a pan on the hob and cook until the apples begin to fall (go soft).  Dont let them become too mushy. Leave some of the apples in chunks.

By cooking the apples and cooling them, there is no rush to make the cake as cooking prevents the apples going brown.

I actually prepared more apples than required for this loaf and have frozen the excess after they had cooled for later recipes.

For this loaf I used about 2 Bramley apples and set them on one side after cooling until I made the cake mixture.

Recipe

2 Bramley apples

1 tablespoon of golden syrup (or honey)

8oz Self Raising flour

3 oz of golden caster sugar

3oz butter/ margarine/spread

pinch of salt.

a beaten egg

1 -2 tablespoons of milk

Line a loaf tin with baking parchment.

Rub the fat into the flour and sugar and salt until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the beaten egg and a tablespoon and a half of milk and stir into the mixture. Squeeze the mixture together gently and then divide the mixture in half.

Put half of the mixture into the tin and press down with the knuckles.

Spoon on the apple mixture and drizzle on a tablespoon of golden syrup or honey  (or more if the apples are sour)

Flatten the rest of the topping with the hands until it is roughly the shape of the tin and add on top of the apples

Nip the mixture all over the top so it has a rustic appearance.  I sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar over the cake to give it a sparkly finish when baked.

Bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes until golden brown and when stabbed with a scewer, it comes out cleanly.

Cut in slices and eat hot or cold, alone or with cream or custard.    Enjoy.    I did.