Some cakes can be complicated to make from scratch, while the simple ones often lack flavour or the wow factor. But there’s one recipe Mary Berry has been making “for years” that she claims is “remarkably easy.” Known as a Devonshire apple cake, it debuted in Mary’s Baking Bible cookbook and is perfect for using up old shrivelled apples from the fruit bowl.
As with most fruity bakes, apple cake pairs well with cream, be it ice cream or crème fraîche. However, you can enjoy a slice of the cake with a simple cup of coffee in the morning, as one would a Danish pastry. Apple cake is best enjoyed warm for maximum sweetness from the fruit, and all you need are eight ingredients to make it.
How to make apple cake
This classic cake requires a deep, 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin to cook the mixture in. This will give the cake a uniform, rounded shape that can be sliced into neat triangle portions.
Making the cake mixture is straightforward, but first, you should prepare the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 and lightly grease the cake tin.
Find a large mixing bowl and sieve in the flour and baking powder. Add the sugar, then follow with the remaining wet ingredients: eggs, almond extract and the melted butter.
Stir everything together to make a blended cake batter and beat for a minute more before pouring half of the cake mixture into the cake tin.
Spread the mixture out to even it out on top, then add the thickly sliced apples in a neat layer on top. It will help to pile them mostly towards the centre to keep them in place.
Mary suggests using two dessert spoons to roughly spoon the remaining mixture over the apple layer.
Use whatever method is easiest for this, but ensure that the mixture covers the centre well, as it will spread out in the oven.
Where is apple cake from?
Various time-honoured versions of this recipe can be found all over the UK, including Dorset, Devon, and Somerset. It’s also widely baked around Europe.
French apple cake has diced apples mixed into the cake batter, meanwhile, the traditional German Apple Cake recipe calls for apple slices to be placed on top of the batter before baking.
Mary Berry’s take on the Devonshire recipe combines both of these methods. However, her version differs from the Dorset apple cake, which has a characteristic demerara crunch on top.