Cinnamon, Apple And Pecan Cake

This delicately spiced cake goes down well with a cup of richly flavoured assam tea.

• Vegetarian

Preparation time :	15 minutes
Cooking time :	1 hour
Total time :	1 hour 15 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients

150g butter, cut into cubes and softened
150g light brown muscovado sugar
150g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp milk
2 eating apples, such as Cox’s
100g pack Waitrose Pecan Nut Halves, broken into pieces
75g sultanas
1-2 tbsp Tate & Lyle Manbré Amber Sugar Crystals

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease an 18cm round, loose-bottomed or springform cake tin and line with non-stick baking parchment.
2. Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl with the muscovado sugar, then beat together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Sieve the flour and the cinnamon into this mixture, add the beaten eggs and beat together. Stir in the milk.
3. Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, then remove and discard the cores. Cut each apple quarter in half again lengthways, then slice the pieces widthways.
4. Reserve a handful of the apple pieces and stir the rest, with the pecans and sultanas, into the cake mix. Using the back of a spoon or spatula, level the surface, scatter the reserved apple pieces evenly over the top then sprinkle over the amber sugar crystals. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour – 1 hour 10 minutes or until cooked and a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean. Serve warm.