This spiced apple cider cake is perfect for enjoying this autumn. Filled with spices and Bramley apples, the cake is delicious and moist. Cut and enjoy with a cup of tea or serve warm with a dollop of clotted cream.

Ready in: 1.5 hours

Serves: 10 – 12

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, softened
250ml apple cider, or pressed apple juice if you prefer
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
Large pinch of ground cloves
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml Greek-style natural yoghurt
250g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

To decorate
125g icing sugar, sifted
30g pecans, chopped

Method

1. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin and heat the oven to 180C.

2. Pour the cider into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes or until reduce by half (approximately 100ml). Set aside to cool.

3. Combine all the spices together in a bowl, reserving 1 tsp of the mix for the icing. Tip the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into the bowl with the spices and mix well.

4. Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract, yogurt and 75ml of the reduced cider. Finally, fold through the flour mixture and the apples until fully combined. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

5. Bake in the oven for 55 minutes to 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Once cooked, leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack. (Once cool, the cake can be wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. Completely defrost before icing as below).

6. Whisk the remaining cider with the icing sugar and reserved spice mix until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add a splash of water if needed. Spoon the icing over the cake, letting it drip down the sides a little. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top, then set aside to allow the icing to set.

7. Cut into slices and serve. The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.