Apple cake (Mary Berry)
This apple cake from Mary Berry is the perfect autumn bake. A warming spiced traybake full of fresh apples it’s not only delicious but super easy to make.
This delicious Mary Berry apple cake is the ultimate autumn bake. It’s a lovely soft, moist sponge spiced with cinnamon and full of fresh apple pieces. If you have a glut of apples I can’t think of a better way of using them up.
We’ve based this on Mary Berry’s Dorset Apple traybake recipe because I don’t think there’s anything nicer than apples served in a cake with a little cinnamon. Not only is it delicious, it’ll make your house smell devine as it bakes.
Rather than cooking it in a round cake tin, we’ve made it as an apple traybake. It felt like the better option for this wholesome recipe, and it made slicing it into pieces at the end really easy.
How can kids help to make Mary Berry’s apple cake traybake?
This is a fun bake for kids to help with, even starting with collecting apples for it if you have your own apple tree giving you fruit in the autumn.
If you have older children, they can help to prepare the apples, by peeling, coring and quartering them.
And children of any age can help to make the cake batter. It’s an easy ‘all in one’ recipe which mixed everything together in one bowl so it couldn’t be simpler. Kids can help measure and mix everything together and even help practice their egg cracking skills.
Once you’ve prepared the cake batter and apples, your kids can help assemble the traybake. First they can help add some batter to your tin, before arranging the apples on it. It’s a fun and easy job children of all ages can help with.
How long does the apple cake keep?
This cake is best eaten fresh on the day it’s made. Even better if it’s still a little bit warm from the oven. If you have some left over though, you can still enjoy it the following day (warm it again before you serve it if you like.
If you want to keep it for longer, you can freeze it for up to 3 months, if you wrap it well in cling film / glad wrap and pop it in a freezer bag. Make sure you defrost it fully before serving it.
What’s the best apple to use in Mary Berry’s apple cake?
You can use any apple you like in this cake recipe. We used a mixture of Granny Smith apples and some Braeburns which gave a lovely contrast in flavour and texture. If you have your own apple tree or this is a great way of using up home-grown apples in the Autumn/fall.
What can I use instead of self raising flour?
Self raising flour is common in the UK, but if you don’t have any or can’t find any in your local supermarket, you can swap it for an equal amount of plain or all purpose flour and add 2 extra teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt.
What is baking margarine or baking spread?
Baking spread, (like Stork for example), is just a non dairy margarine that’s great for baking. It can make sponges lighter and fluffier, which means it’s a good, cheaper alternative to butter.
Can you cook it in a round cake tin?
Yes, if you’d rather have this as a round cake, rather than cooking it in a traybake tin, you can bake it in a 20cm round, loose bottomed tin. Check the cake after about 40 minutes in the oven.
Other apple recipes
If you liked this apple cake and have some more apples to use up why not try one of these recipes:
Blueberry and apple muffins
Apple pinwheels
Plum and apple crumble
Apple crumble
Caramel apple crumble
Apple cinnamon muffins
Caramel apple bread
Apple and blackberry crumble
Plum and apple crumble
Apple scones
Apple flapjacks
Eve’s pudding (apple sponge pudding)
Apple traybake
Apple turnovers
Caramel apple cinnamon rolls
Apple and blackberry cake
Apple cupcakes
Or why not try one of these cake and traybake recipes
Sultana cake
Ginger cake (Mary Berry)
Millionaires shortbread
School cake
Banana and chocolate chip bars
Iced lemon traybake
Biscoff traybake
Madeira cake
Victoria sponge traybake
Banana traybake
Tottenham cake
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make this apple cake:
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Hand held mixer
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Spatula
Offset spatula
23 x 30cm baking tin
Wire rack
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Ingredients
450g apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
300g (2 ½ cups) self raising flour*
2 teaspsoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
225g (1 1/8 cup) light muscovado sugar
4 eggs
225g (1 cup) butter or baking margarine
1 tablespoon milk
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
How to make an apple cake traybake
Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C / 350F and grease and line 23x33cm (9 x 13 inch) baking tin with baking or parchment paper.
We find the easiest way of lining a baking tin is to cut a strip the width of the tin, and lay it in, then lay another strip in the other direction. If you leave some paper over hanging the edges, it’ll make it easier to remove it from the tin later.
Prepare the apples
If they are old enough, get your kids to help peel, core and quarter the apples. Once you’ve done that cut them into thin slices. These need to be quite thin so that they cook properly in the oven, so this is probably a job for grown ups.
Put the apple slices in a bowl and add the lemon juice. Stir it in, and set them aside for now.
Make the apple cake batter
Get your kids to measure all the cake ingredients out and add them to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing mixer. It all gets mixed in together at once, so it doesn’t matter what order you add everything but if you follow along with the order they’re listed you’re less likely to forget something.
Start with the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and the sugar. When your kids are adding the baking powder and cinnamon, make sure they use their finger to level the teaspoon so that you add just the right amount.
Now add the wet ingredients: crack the eggs into a small bowl, before adding them to your mixing bowl. We never add them straight in just in case any rogue shell goes in (it usually does). When it does, simply fish it out with a larger piece of shell or a teaspoon.
Add the butter, or baking margarine if you’re using it. Butter needs to be soft, so if yours isn’t try cutting it into pieces before popping it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so – long enough to soften it but not melt it.
Finally, add the tablespoon of milk.
Mix everything together with the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, a hand held mixer or even wooden spoons. Mix it for a minute or two until the batter looks lovely and light and smooth. Get your kids to scrape down the edges of the bowl with a spatula to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.
make the apple cake
Get your kids to help add half the batter to your prepared traybake tin. Spread it to the edges and level the top with a little spatula.
Spread roughly half of the apple slices over the top of the batter, then sprinkle a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon over the top. We found the best way of doing this and sprinkling it evenly, was to measure out the cinnamon then tap the spoon gently as you move it over the top of the apples.
Add the remaining cake batter over the top of the apples.
Finally, get your kids to arrange the remaining apple pieces over the top of the cake batter, pressing them down into the batter gently. This is a fun job, even young children can help with.
Bake the apple cake
Bake the apple cake for 50-60 minutes. It’s ready when it’s turned golden brown, and is starting to come away from the edges of your tin.
You can double check it’s ready by inserting a cocktail stick, skewer or sharp knife in the centre, and it should come out clean if it’s fully baked.
Take the traybake out of the oven and leave it in the tin for 10 minutes to start cooling.
Remove the traybake from the tin, and peel of the baking paper and leave it on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, slice it into pieces with a sharp knife.
Sprinkle over some icing sugar just before you serve it. Serve it with custard, crème fraiche or cream, and enjoy.
Apple cake (Mary Berry)
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Freestanding mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Hand held mixer
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Spatula
- Offset spatula
- 23 x 30cm baking tin
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 450 g apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 300 g (2 + ½ cups) self raising flour*
- 2 teaspsoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 225 g (1 + ⅛ cup) light muscovado sugar
- 4 eggs
- 225 g (1 cup) butter or baking margarine
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C / 350F and grease and line 23x33cm (9 x 13 inch) baking tin with baking or parchment paper.
Prepare the apples
- Peel, core and quarter the apples. Once you've done that cut them into thin slices. These need to be quite thin so that they cook properly in the oven.Put the apple slices in a bowl and add the lemon juice. Stir it in, and set them aside for now.
Make the apple cake batter
- Measure all the cake ingredients out and add them to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing mixer. It all gets mixed in together at once, so it doesn't matter what order you add everything but if you follow along with the order they're listed you're less likely to forget something.Start with the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and the sugar. When your kids are adding the baking powder and cinnamon, make sure you use your finger to level the teaspoon so that you add just the right amount.
- Now add the wet ingredients: crack the eggs into a small bowl, before adding them to your mixing bowl. Add the butter, or baking margarine if you're using it. Butter needs to be soft, so if yours isn't try cutting it into pieces before popping it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so – long enough to soften it but not melt it.Finally, add the tablespoon of milk.
- Mix everything together with the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, a hand held mixer or even wooden spoons. Mix it for a minute or two until the batter looks lovely and light and smooth.
Make the apple cake
- Add half the batter to your prepared traybake tin. Spread it to the edges and level the top with a little spatula.Spread roughly half of the apple slices over the top of the batter, then sprinkle a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon over the top. Add the remaining cake batter over the top of the apples.Finally, arrange the remaining apple pieces over the top of the cake batter, pressing them down into the batter gently.
Bake the apple cake
- Bake the apple cake for 50-60 minutes. It's ready when it's turned golden brown, and is starting to come away from the edges of your tin.You can double check it's ready by inserting a cocktail stick, skewer or sharp knife in the centre, and it should come out clean if it's fully baked.Take the traybake out of the oven and leave it in the tin for 10 minutes to start cooling.
- Remove the traybake from the tin, and peel of the baking paper and leave it on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, slice it into pieces with a sharp knife.
- Sprinkle over some icing sugar just before you serve it. Serve it with custard, crème fraiche or cream, and enjoy.
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If you liked this apple cake, you’ll love our other traybake recipes as well as our favourite easy bakes for kids.
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