Apple and Almond Cake

The amazing Mary Berry's Apple and Almond Cake.  In her intro, Mary says it works with any apples, even shrivelled ones (though I haven't tried those yet).  I made a couple for a local Farm Walk and Kentish Tea, where we were walking around the apple orchards before enjoying a full cream tea with lots of cake.   I also made a totally gluten and dairy-free version for a dear friend and her daughter who don't normally get to enjoy cakes!  It looked and tasted just as good as the original, and only they could tell it wasn't the full dairy version.  A useful cake indeed.  Like all Mary Berry's cakes, it works!

Apple and Almond Cake

Apple and Almond Cake

8oz/225g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

8oz/225g soft brown sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp almond essence

5oz/130g melted butter

12oz/350 apples, peeled, quartered and cored

1oz/25g flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C .  Grease an 8” cake tin, preferably one with a loose base, and put in a disc of baking parchment.  Put all the ingredients except for the apples and flaked almonds into a processor and beat for about a minute.  Pour half of the mixture into the tin, then chop the apples into rough pieces and put them on top.  Finally, add the rest of the mixture and cover with the flaked almonds.

Bake for approx 1 ½ hours until it is golden brown and starting to shrink from the sides of the tin (I find it doesn't usually take this long).  Dust with icing sugar before serving.   Serves 8, warm or cold.