Stewed apples with cinnamon and raisins were my mother’s way of spoiling us when we were young. 

My brother and I both loved it and my mum often used to serve it up with lashings of hot custard or ice cream. As a result, I have always loved apple pie, apple crumble, and apple tarts. Apple pie over a milk tart any day in fact. 

Now that we’re older I notice the love for stewed apples growing strong in my nephew. Whenever I’m around he often asks for seconds. It’s really sweet to witness. 

This cake was not created by me. Yes, I have used alternatives to make this sponge completely sugar-free. The original product however is the brainchild of an Aussie girl named Jess. Her website www.sweetestmenu.com is just incredible. There is a recipe for everything and the crumb on top of this cake is identical to hers.

Ingredients

4 small red apples (peeled, de-seeded, and cut in large chunks)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cup stoneground flour (I used Eureka Mills’ Brown Bread Flour)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 extra-large eggs

1/2 cup olive oil/sunflower oil

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup plain yoghurt (I used Gourmet Greek)

Crumb

1/4 cup white or brown sugar (you can substitute with Xylitol if you want a sugar-free cake)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp melted coconut oil/butter

Glaze

1/4 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees.

2. Grease a standard cake pan and lay a strip of parchment paper in the pan. The sides must hang over so it will be easy to lift the cake out without turning it over.

3. In a large bowl mix the flour, bicarb, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.

4. Toss the apples lightly with 1tsp cinnamon and the maple syrup.

5. Add to the dry ingredients and toss gently.

6. Give all the wet ingredients a whisk. Don’t beat it too much.

7. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture into it.

8. Mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula until it comes together. The batter will be thick. This is normal.

9. Pour into the baking pan and make your crumb.

10. Mix brown or white sugar/xylitol, another tsp of cinnamon, and butter together. It will be crumbly. Spread it evenly over the top of your cake batter. There will be large empty spaces, don’t worry too much about this.

11. Bake for 35 minutes.

12. Let the cake cool entirely before lifting it out of the pan. Skip the next step if you want a completely sugar-free cake.

13. Beat milk and icing sugar together in a tiny milk jug. Drizzle it over your cool cake and let it set until it gets a bit hard.