This spiced apple cake is perfect for the holidays

When we’re in the midst of the holiday season, it is time to dust off your old recipe books to whip up some classic festive delicacies. The cheerful and joyous aura of any festival is multiplied tenfold by the accompanying delectable treats and drinks, such as eggnog, hot cocoa, assorted cookies, marzipan, as well as Indian delights, including bebinca and dohol. Apple-based sweet dishes are quite popular in general, making them a big draw during the holiday season. One apple dish in particular—the spiced apple cake—serves as the perfect comfort food. This luscious and innovative dessert will surely keep you fuzzy, warm, and cosy on wintery nights. 

Apple is commonly used in various desserts, which include apple strudel, apple pie, apple upside down cakes, and of course, the Halloween classic, candied apples. Today though, you will learn all about a less known apple-based treat—the spiced apple cake that has already been mentioned above. Also referred to as the autumn cake, the spiced apple cake is typically consumed in the fall and winter months, that is, from October to February. At its most basic, the dish is a pound cake. However, don’t make the mistake of assuming that it’s some simple pound cake. This particular cake is intricately layered with apple pieces, and in turn, each apple piece is garnished with nuts and spices. The nuts and spices vary depending on the individual preparing the cake. In this way, you can customize your cake per your liking. 

The spiced apple cake is a big hit among dessert lovers because of its fresh and unique taste. The acidity, crunch, and flavor of the nuts and spices provide a lovely balance to the sweetness of the apples. Taking a bite of this scrumptious dessert literally feels like Christmas in one’s mouth! Additionally, this cake is so wonderfully soft and moist that it melts in your mouth, causing an explosion of rich flavors. This cake is especially popular in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the New England region of the United States, which comprises states, such as Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. As indicated earlier in the article, there is not set recipe for this cake. So although chocolate isn’t typically used in the dessert, you can use Cadbury, Toblerone, or any other premium quality chocolate to enhance the taste of your dish. Drizzling some melted Cadbury Dairy Milk or Toblerone Chocolate over your cake has the potential of transforming this already tasty treat to something truly divine and unforgettable. 

Now, let’s take a look at a detailed recipe for the spiced apple cake. This recipe is super simple and will enable you to prepare this crumbly and delicious cake in no time!

Ingredients:

1. A few apples of different varieties to add diversity of flavors to your dish
2. Cinnamon powder
3. Maida aka all-purpose flour
4. Mondelez Royal Baking Powder
5. Nutmeg powder
6. All spice powder (all spice is a type of clove that is endemic to the West Indies and Central America)
7. Vanilla extract
8. Vegetable oil
9. Milk
10. Eggs
11. Salt and sugar
12. Dairy Milk Silk (Optional)
13. Toblerone Bar (Optional)

Note: Ingredients will be measured and used basis the size of the cake you want to make.

Directions:

1. You will, of course, begin with your hero ingredient—the apples. Rinse the apples thoroughly, core them, and then cut them into square-shaped pieces. Peeling the apples is not necessary or recommended.
2. Add sugar as well as cinnamon powder to the diced apples and keep it aside to set. The cinnamon powder will further enhance the sweet taste of the apples and act as a complement to the spices.
3. Next, blend the maida or flour, Mondelez Royal Baking Powder, salt, and the all spice plus nutmeg powder into one cohesive mixture.
4. Then, in a separate utensil, such as a bowl, beat the eggs and the sugar simultaneously until the mixture becomes smooth and silky, and all traces of the sugar disappear.
5. To this eggy mixture, introduce vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and milk, and blend them into the mixture thoroughly. 
6. Subsequently, take the maida mixture and combine that with the egg mixture. Be sure not to pour all the maida mixture into the egg mixture all at once, but do so, slowly, carefully, and incrementally.
7. Once done, ensure that both the mixtures have been merged properly, and that all the ingredients have been infused satisfactorily.
8. After the ingredients have been blended nicely, preheat your oven a temperature of 360°C. Simultaneously, keep your pan ready by either dusting or greasing it with flour/maida, or lining the pan with parchment paper. 
9. Then, carefully introduce some of your cake batter into the pan, and slowly distribute and arrange a share of the diced apples over the batter. 
10. To layer your cake, add the remaining portion of the batter over the diced apples, and similarly, spread the remainder of the apples above this batter.
11. Leave the batter and apples in the oven to bake for approximately an hour. 
12. After this duration, thoroughly check if the cake has been baked properly. You can use a toothpick to check this. Pierce it at the center of the cake; if the toothpick comes out clean, then your cake has been baked to perfection.
13. Once you’ve ensured the cake has been baked properly, set it aside on a wire rack to cool down. After cooling, you can cut your cake into slices and begin serving the succulent dish!

Note: You can decorate your cake using the Cadbury Silk or Toblerone bars. For instance, you can melt the chocolate and lightly and intricately drizzle it over the cake. You could also sprinkle the cake with tiny pieces of the chocolates. There are innumerable ways in which you can elevate your dish beyond a regular apple cake, so continue being bold and trying out new things in the kitchen. Make your holiday a memorable one with spiced apple cake!