According to my mum, she found this in a old recipe book and as it had cider and apples in it and as my home county is Somerset, she thought it would be appropriate to give me this to share with everyone.
This is one of those cakes that is so delicious and moist that I would choose it any day over most other cakes even though it would appear the most rustic of them all!
It has been around as a big family favourite all my life and I know it will keep being one! Shame she can’t put a few of the small ones in the post to me – writing this blog can be very cruel at times!!!
Ingredients:
1¼ lbs Sultanas
½ Pint medium/sweet Cider
1 lb Caster Sugar
12ozs Butter
4 Standard Eggs
1¼ lbs Plain Flour
1½ lbs Cooking Apples
3 Level teaspoons baking powder
2 Level teaspoons mixed spice or ground coriander
Preheat oven to 180C/350F Gas 4 or 170C Fan Oven
Makes 18 muffins and two 1lb loaf cakes. It is also enough to fill a large roasting tin 30cm x 25cm (12″ x10″). Grease and line the tins.
1 Place sultanas in a basin and cover with the cider, leave in a cool place overnight until the sultanas are plump and have absorbed most of the cider.
2 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add beaten eggs gradually.
3 Add sifted flour, baking powder and spices, the mixture will seem stiff at this stage.
4 Add chopped apples (these can be the size of your choosing but should not be too big), sultanas and any remaining cider, and mix thoroughly.
5 Put mixture into prepared tin/tins and bake in centre of oven.
The muffins take 20/25 minutes. The loaf tins will take 40/45 minutes and the large roasting tin 1¼ to 1½ hours. Test with a skewer to make sure the middle is cooked.
Tip: If the top of the cakes are browning too quickly, place a piece of greaseproof paper lightly on the top and continue cooking until they are done.
When cooked the cake should spring back and have begun to shrink from sides of tin. Leave to cool in the tins.
NB Somerset Cider Apple Cake can be eaten hot, as a pudding, with cream or custard, stored in a tin for up to 1 week and freezes well.
Anyone For Seconds? 
MMMM – this looks a good one. I love Apple and cider cake and made my own recipe up last year. Now it’s that time of year again, but I have to make something with chocolate – chocolate apple cider cake?
Hi Choclette – Glad you like the sound of this – I have grown up with this recipe all my life. If you do make an adaption of this recipe, please let me know and I will list it for you on here 🙂
Hi Giles
I’ve just featured your mum’s recipe on my blog:
http://choclogblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/apple-cider-chocolate-chunk-cake.html
Wow thats fantastic 🙂 I cant wait to send her the link – I’m sure she will want to try it!
I’ve just copied you recipe to The Dorset Knob Forum (http://thedorsetknob.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30&p=183#p183) as there is a discussion about Dorset Apple Cake there.
I hope you don’t mind?
Hello Giles! I found this blog in foodista and followed it here. This is a lovely blog and awesome Somerset Cider Apple CAke recipe. Reminds me of mom’s recipe and it was superb. By the way you can place more foodista widget in your past and future blogs so that other foodista readers can follow and see your blog too. Just search for a related recipe or food in Foodista and use its widget. I hope to read more from you. Cheers!
Hi Giles,
My name’s Laura Mitchell, I’m currently working on a new ITV1 show called Food, Glorious, Food. I’ve seen your blog and would love to get in touch with you – can you email me on laura.mitchell@optomen.com
Many thanks
I have just discovered your lovely receive and have the sultanas in soak right now. Could you please tell me if this recipe makes 18 muffins plus 2lb. Loaf tins or one or the other. Thank you. Looking forward to this. Glynis
This was my first time of making. I’m in Somerset and one of my cakes was taken to London for a Somerset young man. Muffins were shared with friends and I’ve had requests to make this cake again as often as I can. Apples used were from one neighbour’s garden and another’s allotment. I made my apple pieces the size of my middle finger to the first joint and that was just perfect. The other thing I wasn’t sure of was the actual prepared weight of the apple. My first cake was 1lb 3oz todays cake was 1lb 5 oz so I’m waiting to see what happens. The first time I made 1×8″ round, 1x 2lb loaf tin and 4 muffins. This time I have put 2 lb of mixture into 3 x8″ round cake tins. So this is a big recipe. Thankyou for sharing it
Reblogged this on Rattiesforeverworldpresscom.
This is TOP recipe! Its so good I’ve bookmarked it twice. My workmates always request it as first option. Peter in Jersey.