Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake

Dad: "Bake me a cake for afternoon tea!"

This is what happens when people start realising that you can bake half-decent cakes. You get requests for healthy birthday cakes and spontaneous afternoon teas.

My dad requested I make him a cake for afternoon tea one day after my parents had come back from shopping and were unsuccessful at purchasing any afternoon tea-worthy from the shops. I happily obliged - any excuse to get out of doing uni work to bake! I noticed that we had a lot of apples in our fruitbowl so I decided to make an apple cinnamon tea cake.

This cake has a slight spicyness from the cinnamon and an almost crunchy crust. But the inside of the cake is lovely and moist with surprise slices of caramelised apple hidden away at the bottom of the cake.

I cut myself a warming and comforting slice when it was still fresh out of the oven and it was perfect for the chilly weather we've been having in Sydney recently. Serve thick slices of warm cake with a cup of tea, and you have one content Dad :)

Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake

adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine

4 apples
30 g unsalted butter, softened
330 g (1½ cups) caster sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
300 g (2 cups) self-raising flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Peel, core and quarter apples, then thinly slice lengthways. Heat a small amount of butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add apples, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar and sauté for 8 minutes or until golden brown and caramelised. Cool to room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale, add sugar and beat until well combined and doubled in volume. Add eggs one at a time, whisking to incorporate before adding the next. Add vanilla and whisk to combine.

3. Sift flour, sea salt and cinnamon over batter and gently fold until combined. Spoon half the mixture into a lined 26cm diameter cake pan. Spread apples evenly over batter and top with remaining batter.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted skewer draws clean. Stand for 10 minutes then transfer cake to a wire rack to cool.