Apple, Lemon and Walnut Cake

We have made this cake for years, it is a family favourite. We like it best with granny smith apples but any apple that keeps it shape when cooked works well (Braeburn, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Gravenstein). We don't use Meyer Lemons in this recipe as we prefer that sharper flavour of a Yen Ben, Genoa, Lisbon, Eureka or Villa Franca lemon. If you only have access to Meyer lemons, use them, the cake will still be lovely. 

The combination of the apple, lemon, sultanas, walnuts and the custardy cake is wonderful. It is fruity, a little sweet, a little sour and crunchy. You could use another nut if you like but we love the flavour of walnuts and we have access to fresh walnuts.

Don't forget the cake. when it is in the oven! I put the cake in this photo in the oven and then went out into the nursery. I got so involved in what I was doing that when I came back to check on the cake, the walnuts were over cooked. To make things worse, I had made the cake in a new loose bottom cake tin. and a lot of the batter had leaked out. The cake should be higher than it is in the photo.

Ingredients

• 4 Apples- peeled, cored and sliced
• 2 lemons, zest and juice
• 1 lemon, zest for decoration
• 1 cup plus 1 tbs flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 100gms butter- melted
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup milk
• 75-150gm walnuts
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• Orange jam/marmalade to glaze the top (optional)

Method

1. heat oven to 150 degrees C
2. Place walnuts on a slice tray. Cook for 10-15 mins until lightly toasted
3. Remove walnuts from oven and increase the temp to 175 degrees C
4. Line the base of a 23 cm cake tin with baking paper
5. Bowl 1: Zest lemons, place in bowl with the lemon juice and sliced apples. Toss the apples in the juice and zest to prevent browning
6. Bowl 2: Sift flour and baking powder together
7. bowl 3: Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla together. Add butter and mix. Add flour and  baking powder to wet ingredients. Mix together until smooth. Drain apples and add the lemon juice to the batter. Stir together
8. Pour a thin covering of batter on to the bottom of the cake tin
9. Lay 1/3 of the apple mixture on top of the batter
10. Sprinkle over 1/3 walnuts and 1/2 of the sultanas
11. Pour 1/3 of the batter over the apples, walnuts and sultanas
12. Repeat the layer of apples, walnuts and sultanas then pour over 1/3 of the batter
13. For the last layer arrange the remaining apples nicely on the batter and then add the biggest walnuts
14. finish with the remaining batter
15. Place in oven and cook for 1-1/2 hours
16. The cake is cooked when a skewer comes out clean. The cake will be soft.
17. Glaze with orange jam/marmalade and grate extra zest over the top of the cake.

Walnuts can burn so place backing paper on the top of the cake if they are looking too brown.

Serving Suggestions:

We like to serve this with whipped cream or Greek yoghurt. It is also lovely with creme fraiche or mascarpone.

Picture Above: A slice of lemon, apple and walnut cake served with natural yoghurt.

Picture Above: The whole cake, just out of the oven.