Apple + Cinnamon Bundt Cake

I’ve always liked the look of a bundt cake; using a fancy tin I imagined would make the plainest and simplest cake look super-special. It turns out that I was spot on!

Lidl is a cheap, German supermarket chain here in the UK (some people are a bit snobby about it but they do the BEST pickled things and salami’s) I picked up a Zenker springform cake tin for just £2.99. Bargain! Me being me I couldn’t wait to try it so managed to find a recipe that near enough matched the ingredients I had available. Turns out it was the best cake ever! Instead of 6 Granny Smith apples I used all the dodgy looking apples and pears that were gathering dust in the fruit bowl, also I accidently missed the bit in the receipe that says the butter should be melted – mine was soft, not melted, and whilst it was tough going combining it with the sugar and looked a bit lumpy when I added the eggs it turned out fine!

Also – I’m normally quite sceptical about a recipe that says it could feed 10, but this cake really could – it’s a biggie!

Apple-Cinnamon Bundt Cake

From Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, March 2004

Ingredients

Serves 10

• 300g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 225g unsalted butter, melted
• 300g packed light-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 125g icing sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

Directions

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and bicarbonate of soda. (Don’t worry about sifting).
• In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk until smooth.
• Gradually whisk in dry ingredients just until combined (do not overmix).
• Using a rubber spatula, fold in apples.
• Spoon batter into a 26cm non-stick Bundt pan, and smooth top.
• Bake until a tester inserted in cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. (Check at 40 minutes – mine was ready in 45).
• Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes; invert onto rack to cool completely.
• Once the cake has cooled, whisk together icing sugar and enough water to form a thick yet pourable glaze.
• Set rack with cake over a piece of baking paper (for easy cleanup); drizzle cake with glaze, and let set before serving.