German Apple Cake

Ingredients for  10  Servings

• 225g

  Plain flour
• 2

  Dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thin wedges
• 125g

  Butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 140g

  Golden caster sugar
• 3

  Eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• 5 tbsp

  Full-fat milk
• 2 tsp

  Baking powder
• 1 tbsp

  Lemon juice
• ½ tsp

  Salt
• For the Topping

• 1½ tbsp

  Demerara sugar
• ½ tsp

  Ground cinnamon

Approximate Times

• Preparation :

  Less than 30 minutes
• Cooking :

  30 minutes to 1 hour
• Other :

  Cooling time. See method

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 3½. Butter and line a 23cm round cake tin.
2. Coat the apple wedges in the lemon juice and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar, using an electric hand mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Slowly add the milk, mixing well after each addition, until you have a smooth batter.
4. Transfer the batter to the cake tin. Arrange the apple slices, flat-side down, on the batter in a spiral pattern.
5. For the topping, mix together the demerara sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the batter.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40–45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and the top is golden-brown. Leave to cool for 15 minutes in the tin. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and turn it out of the tin onto a wire rack.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.