Dorset apple cake

Name: Dorset apple cake
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 300g plain flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 150g butter, cubed and softened; 150g light brown sugar; 2 eggs, beaten; 500g cooking apples, peeled and diced; 3 tbsp milk; 2 tbsp demerara sugar, for the top

A moist, spiced apple cake studded with fruit, eaten warm with clotted cream or cold with a cup of tea.

Nut free

Time1 hr 20
LevelEasy
Costabout £0.40 a head
Oven180°C (160°C fan)

Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.

10 servings

Ingredients

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300 gplain flour
2 tspbaking powder
1 tspground cinnamon
150 gbuttercubed and softened
150 glight brown sugar
2eggsbeaten
500 gcooking applespeeled and diced
3 tbspmilk
2 tbspdemerara sugarfor the top

Method

1
Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease and line a 20cm square tin or deep round tin.
2
Rub the butter into the flour, baking powder and cinnamon with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the brown sugar.
3
Mix in the beaten eggs and milk to make a soft, thick batter. Fold in the diced apple.
4
Spoon into the tin, level the top and scatter over the demerara sugar.
5
Bake for 50 minutes until risen and golden. A skewer pushed into the middle should come out clean.
50 min
6
Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then lift out. Serve warm or cold, cut into squares.

Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.