December 27, 2018

APPLE AND MINCEMEAT CAKE (could be a good alternative Christmas cake)

apple and mincemeat cake

If your house is anything like mine there always seems to be leftover mincemeat lurking at the back of the fridge or the cupboard after Christmas and this is a good way to use it in a delicious cake.  If you’re very lucky there will also be a cooking apple in the veg drawer, although I dare say a couple of small dessert apples (my mum used to call them “eating apples”) would work just as well.

apple and mincemeat cake3

The recipe comes from this book by Liz Herbert, one of my favourite books for old fashioned, no nonsense cakes and recipes that always work.

apple and mincemeat cake4

This is very much an everyday cake to go with a cup of tea in the afternoon, no frills or fancy icing and in fact as it says in the book “beautifully moist and needs no icing”.  It’s quick and easy to make and perfect for when you’ve eaten all the Christmas cake and mince pies but fancy a little something not too fancy.

On the other hand, it would make an excellent lighter alternative to the traditional rich fruit Christmas cake.

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For another good mincemeat cake recipe (without apples) see this recipe here.

Ingredients

115g spreadable butter or baking spread

115g soft light brown sugar

grated zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs, beaten

200g self raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

175g mincemeat

1 medium Bramley apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4.  Butter and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin.

Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy.  Gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl.  Add the mincemeat and apple and fold in.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top, then make a slight dip in the middle.  (This helps to make the finished cake flat on top instead of domed.)

Bake for 45 minutes or until done.  Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

3 comments:

  1. I'm really not fond of mince pies but I do really enjoy a mincemeat cake. This sounds like a good one to me. Helpfully jars of mincemeat are often being sold off really cheaply in January in the supermarkets.

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    1. Phil, I do sometimes succumb to temptation and buy a jar or two in the January sales. This is a throwback to my childhood when my mum made a batch of mince pies every weekend throughout the year - or until she had run out of mincemeat. My dad took a couple of mince pies to work with his sandwiches every day.

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  2. Ooh, this sounds lovely! And I have one jar of mincemeat still lurking at the back of the cupboard. I think I'll try your recipe in the new year (once the cake tins are a bit emptier) as I like the idea of adding apples.

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