Aunty's Apple Cake like my mum used to make (except without the gluten!)

My mum looks so cool in this old black and white photograph wearing her trendy headscarf with my grandmother. According to Hannah the fashion has had a revival.
Looking through some of her things I found this apple cake recipe she'd written on a scrap of paper...

We eat tons of apples, but as I'd bought a big batch of them before realising that a number were bruised I thought that it might be a good idea to make an apple cake as the recipe says you can use windfalls as well as Bramley Apples...

In case you can't read mum's writing, you will need:

5oz of wholemeal flour

4oz of butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of baking powder

water or fruit juice to mix

(I added a teaspoonful of cinnamon too and a little vanilla extract, this would work with lots of different spices even a little ground or freshly grated ginger.)

For the topping:

2 large cooking apples (or windfall ones in the autumn)

1 tablespoon of brown sugar.

1 teaspoon of water or fruit juice to mix

Method:

. To make the sponge cream the butter and sugar together.

. Beat in the eggs gradually

. Sift in all the dry ingredients and fold in. Add the water or fruit juice and vanilla extract.

.Pour into a greased oven proof dish.

. Peel and slice the apples and place on top of the batter in overlapping rows or circles.

. Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping and sprinkle over the apples as below.

Bake in a moderate oven 375 to 400 degrees F/ 190 to 200degrees C/ gas mark 4-5 for 20 to 30 minutes.

This a lovely cake and delicious served warm as a winter pudding with custard or homemade vanilla ice cream...mmm

This was my second attempt at cooking with gluten free flour. I used Doves Farm Gluten and Wheat Free White self-raising flour. It's a mixture of rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat flour. I followed the recipe and just changed the flour and it still made a lovely light, moist cake.

Last week I baked my usual fruit cake recipe that I must have made a hundred times. The instructions on the bag of gluten free flour said that it's very absorbent and to add a little extra liquid when following your own recipe...so I did and ended up with a really soggy fruitcake that I returned to the oven...which didn't really solve the problem.

In future I think I'll do as I have today and just substitute the flour but leave the recipes alone.I'll let you know how I get on...

debx