Easy apple fruit cake

Easy apple fruit cake

This cake has all the flavours of Christmas, but won’t take ages to make – you can decorate it any way you like. Ideal for a wedding cake too

Ingredients

    200g butter, softened plus extra for greasing
    200g dark muscovado sugar
    3 eggs, beaten
    1 tbsp black treacle
    200g self-raising flour
    2 tsp mixed spice
    1 tsp baking powder
    2 eating apples, grated (approx 100g each)
    300g mixed sultanas and raisins

Method

    Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the bottom of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. Beat the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl (electric hand- beaters are best for this), until pale and thick. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the fruit until evenly combined.

    Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 50 mins-1 hr or until the cake is dark golden, springy to the touch and has shrunk away from the tin slightly. A skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean when it’s ready. Cool completely before decorating. Will keep, wrapped in an airtight container or iced, for up to a week, or can be frozen un-iced for up to a month – defrost fully before decorating.