Merry Christmas Eve!
The day before Christmas is always a mixture of stress and relaxation and anticipation in our house. There are presents to wrap, last-minute work emails to send, brussels sprouts to peel for tomorrow’s dinner, and (if you’re me) presents still to shop for…
But once everything’s sorted for the big day, there’s nothing nicer than doing a bit of light baking and then sitting down with a nice cup of tea and a hunk of mulled wine apple cake!
So I’m going to quote my lovely housemate Chloe here: “This cake is THE BEST APPLE CAKE EVER.”
It’s warm and comforting and fruity and all kinds of delicious… and also so easy to make!
Simply soak the Bramley apples in (shop-bought!) mulled wine, and then bake into a spiced sponge mix to create the perfect Christmassy traybake. The apples retain their shape and flavour without going all mushy, and the mulled wine gives them a sweet but sharp edge that’s totally different from any apple cake you’ve ever tried.
The sponge is sweet and perfectly spiced with cinnamon and cloves and the whole thing is lovely served with a dollop of sharp creme fraiche!
My flatmates and I got through half of this massive cake-beast on the day I baked it. That’s how good it was. And I wrapped up the second half and sent it up North with Gary for his family, and it got great reviews from that end of the world as well.
So yep. Definitely a cake I’ll be making again!
MULLED WINE APPLE CAKE
INGREDIENTS
450g Bramley apples (they retain their texture better than other apples!)
2 cups of mulled wine (I used Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference but any shop-bought mulled wine will do.)
225g softened unsalted butter
280g golden caster sugar (this gives it a lovely subtle sweetness, but use normal white caster sugar if you can’t get hold of it)
350g self-raising flour
4 eggs
2 tsp of ground cinnamon
2 tsp of ground cloves
METHOD
1. Turn your oven on to 180 degrees (160 for fan ovens!) and line a deep, rectangular baking tin with parchment paper.
2. Prep your ingredients: peel, core and dice the Bramley apples so that all the pieces are about the size of a then pour over your mulled wine. Give the apples a stir, so they’re all coated in the wine and then set aside.
3. Place the softened butter and caster sugar in a large bowl and beat together. Add your eggs, flour and spices, and mix well until smooth.
4. Drain your apples and then sprinkle them with some flour, so all the pieces are very lightly coated. This is to stop the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake! Mix the apples into the batter and spoon it all into the prepared tin.
Note: the batter will feel thicker/dryer than a normal sponge recipe. This is to soak up the extra apple juices, but don’t worry, it will be a lovely and moist cake once it comes out of the oven!
5. Now pop it in the in the oven for 40-45 mins, until golden and springy to the touch. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes or so, then turn it out onto a cooling tray.
6. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and plenty of Christmas cheer!
See? Super easy.
Now cut yourself a slice, pour yourself a glass of leftover mulled wine and put your feet up.
HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU UTTER BABES! ♥
*This post is sponsored by Bramley Apples.
