Gwilym’s Milopita (Apple, brown sugar and cinnamon cake) (vg)

I grew up in Dorset, so I’m no stranger to a good apple cake. This one is delicious, and a bit lighter and softer than the traditional Dorset Apple Cake – probably because the apples are sliced thinly, rather than left in chunks. In fact, this is quite similar in flavour to the famous Dutch Appeltaart – somewhere between a cake, a tart and a pie.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas mark 5. Lightly oil a 24cm springform cake tin.

Peel and quarter your apples, cut out the cores and thinly slice the flesh.

Place the apple slices in a large bowl, cover with 175g of the sugar and the lemon juice/brandy/calvados, and mix gently until combined. Leave for 5 minutes.

Add the flour, baking powder, ground almonds, cinnamon and sea salt to the apples and mix well, but gently (you don’t want to smash up the apple slices too much).

In a measuring jug, combine the oil and plant milk and then add to the apple mixture. Stir to combine well.

Pour the batter into the greased cake tin, giving it a little shake to level it off. Evenly scatter the remaining 25g sugar and the chopped nuts over the top of the cake, and bake low down in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Serve warm with vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan creme fraiche.

This recipe is inspired by Georgina Hayden’s Milopita recipe as published in her recent book Nistisima