Become a Member for as little as $4/mo and enjoy unlimited reading of TSLL blog.
Britain is full of delicious desserts and sweet treats to enjoy with tea, and in Dorset county, in the southwestern part of England, as they are known for growing an abundance of apples, it just makes sense that the Dorset Apple Cake would become the baked good most associated with the area.
If you pop into any tea house or café, restaurant or any food establishment that offers baked goods in Dorset, the Dorset Apple Cake will be on the menu. And as it has been baked for over a century, there isn’t one approach. The only detail you have to have is apples, and then it needs to be a cake. However, regarding the latter, some recipes resemble more of a scone, so really, it is up to you and your taste.
I look at a handful of different recipes, and after narrowing it down to two, adapted primarily from British Bake-Off winner Edd Kimber’s recipe. I chose not to include sultans/raisins, but you can absolutely use them. I add more spices, rising agents and included a bit of whole wheat flour instead of solely all-purpose. The result is still a deliciously gentle warm (due to the spices) cake (so long as you don’t over bake it) with a slightly denser and nuttier (just a bit) flavor. What is lovely about this cake is that it is light which makes it ideal for serving with tea.
If you look at many different approaches, as The Guardian detailed here, the choice of sugar can differentiate, the amount of butter and even toppings, and how large to slice the apples, but for my taste, give me a cake that is flavorful, light, yet a bit dense due to the brown sugar and whole wheat flour, and then let me know I have apples in it without be too large.
The topping of the Demerara sugar gives a wonderful crunchy texture, but also looks finished as well in a rustic way.
The pairing of crème anglaise is my choice to add a bit of luxury; however, the traditional pairing in Britain would be clotted cream or a custard (which simply has a thickening agent such as flour which takes it beyond what a crème anglaise would be. And as I shared in season six of The Simply Luxurious Kitchen cooking show in episode one, while a fancy name for a topping, it is a super simple sauce to make.
While I haven’t had the opportunity to visit Dorset county yet on my previous trips to Britain, when I do, I absolutely will be tasting as many Dorset Apple Cakes as I can. Now to the recipe! Have the tea ready to enjoy when it comes out of the oven. Wonderful to enjoy warm. 🙂
Dorset Apple Cake, w/ Crème Anglaise, the Simply Luxurious approach
Equipment
- 1 20 cm/7-8 inch round cake pan (or a 3" x 5" rectangular cake pan – can stretch to 6" in length.
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 175 g all-purpose flour
- 35 g whole wheat/wholemeal flour (spelt flour is a substitute)
- 115 g unsalted butter, chilled, cubed best quality you can find (lard is traditionally used)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp cornflour
- 115 g light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 6-8 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 apples (Opal is my choice, but choose what you love) peel, core, and cube
- 3-4 tbsp demerara sugar to put on top just before you begin baking
Crème Anglaise
- 1 cup whole milk or heavy/double cream
- 1 1/2 Tbsp caster/granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk (the yolk only)
- 1 vanilla bean's seeds (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, using your hands, mix together the flours, butter (cube it first – smaller will be easier), spices, salt, baking soda and cornflour until it forms a breadcrumb like texture.
- Add the sugar (brown sugar) and mix together again.
- Using a hand mixer or a standing mixer, mix together the above ingredients you have already combined with your hands that resemble breadcrumbs, and now add the egg, vanilla and gradually add the milk. You may not need all of it. You want to mix slowly until a thick batter forms.
- Prepare the apples – cutting them into cubes (peeled and cored), small bite size. Do not grate the apples. You want to see them. You want to taste them, which is why you want to choose an apple you enjoy eating as you will taste its flavor, albeit cooked and thus softened.
- Now add the apples to the batter and mix with a wood mixing spoon until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Prepare the cake pan you prefer. I used my French 3" x 5" rectangular cake pan and still had enough batter left over for a small single cake if I wanted to make it. There is enough batter for a full cake – 7-8" in diameter.Whichever you choose, eliminate any headaches of trying to remove the cake from the pan and line it with parchment as you see in the photo.
- Put the batter into the baking pan, and fill about 2/3 – 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pan.
- Now sprinkle as much or as little of the Demerara sugar that you want on top. I like to cover the entire top of the cake as it gives a nice crunchy topping that provides a different and complementary texture to the cake and apples.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes. Checking the center to ensure cooked through, but don't overbake as it will dry out the apples. For a round cake pan, you may only need to cook it 30-40 minutes as the surface areas is larger and the filling thinner. So check often as you hit the 30 minute mark. If the top begins to get too brown, but the cake itself is not baked through yet, simply cover the top with tin foil for the remainder of the baking period.
- Remove when just cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes and then remove to place on your serving platter.
Créme Anglaise
- Split the vanilla bean and scrap the seeds out into the milk that you will have poured into the small sauce pan. Leave the bean in the milk as well and add the sugar. Bring to a medium heat.
- Whisk your egg yolk just to break down the yolk, but not to the point of frothiness.
- Once the milk mixture is warm, take a tablespoon of it and add it to the egg yolk to temper. Mix together and then add the yolk that was tempered into the milk mixture and whisk gently until the right thickness is reached. You don't want the yolk to scramble, so keep the heat at medium. You will know the crème anglaise is done when you can run your finger on the back of a spoon through the crème and it leaves a clear line, so somewhat opaque, but not like frosting.
- Remove from the stove and pour into a serving vessel. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to pour on the cake servings to be enjoyed.
Serving
- Slice as thick as you prefer. This is cake after all and not bread, so 1-2 inches in thickness. Pour some Créme Anglaise either next to the cake slice on the plate or on the top. Pair with a hot cuppa tea, and enjoy.
~Explore all of TSLL’s Recipes here.
~Shop the above silver-plated Fortnum & Mason tea strainer here (similar, my design shown here is no longer available).
Explore all of the posts shared during TSLL’s British Week this year
It looks lovely. I have all the ingrédients in hand and it should rain all weekend. Sounds like a lovely plan to bake this soon. Thank you
This sounds like the perfect plan for the rainy weekend Veéronique 🙂
Véronique, raining here as well, you have the perfect plan, I’m off to pick up some apples now!
Now that sounds like a delicious way to enjoy a rainy day! I do hope you enjoy! 🙂
Wow, this looks delightful! I love love love all things apple, and love trying new approaches. Thank you!
You are most welcome! I do hope you enjoy! It is quite simple and full of subtle, yet still light, flavor.
This looks delicious!!!! Can’t wait to try it!!!
Thank you for stopping by Mariana! 🙂
Yummy, I was in Dorset for my first visit in April and I had my first Apple cake served with Dorset tea! It’s definitely my type of cake. Delicious. x
Nicola,
So tickled you have experienced the real deal! I cannot wait to do so. Please do share any characteristics you remembered and loved. I am all ears!
Dear Nicola, lucky you, I bet you will be transported back with the first bite, enjoy!
Hi Shannon,
I really want to try this recipe. Do you happen to have measurements for the flour and butter in cups and tablespoons? I don’t have a kitchen scale. Also, what is corn four? Corn starch? Thank-you for sharing this lovely recipe.
Good morning. Cornflour is corn starch in the US.. As far as converting the dry ingredients from grams to cups I search the web for conversion charts.
Thanks Valerie!
Thank you Valerie!
Jamie, what you can do is simple google equivalences – and they will be quite close. And while I too didn’t have a scale for some time, it has definitely been worth adding it to my baking game. And they aren’t that expensive. Here is the one I use and came highly recommended from David Lebovitz – https://amzn.to/3Z2dFLr , but anything from OXO will be worth it and they have other designs as lower price points. Here is another I would choose – https://amzn.to/4je73AJ
Great question and I completely understand. 🙂
Oh, forgot to answer your other question, but Valerie as you covered! 🙂 Yep, cornflour is cornstarch.
Looks delicious Shannon. I like how you’re adjusting the recipe to suit your taste. I usually substitute whole wheat pastry flour in my recipes. Also have to tell you that I’ve adopted the SIT protocol in my workouts thanks to listening to your podcast regarding Dr. Stacy Sims. I’m definitely not a runner but this is very doable without feeling like a drudge. Thank you for the recommendation! CB
Carolyn,
Isn’t whole wheat flour a game changer as it pertains to flavor (far more delicious than people might imagine), and also adds a bit of healthy to the dessert ;).
Thank you so much for sharing about how SIT is going for you! As you said, it really is doable, isn’t it? So tickled it is going well!
I love little cakes like this! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for stopping by and I do hope you enjoy! 🙂
Just reading this, I can smell all the wonderful aromas from the spices and the apples! YUM! Thank you for sharing Shannon.
So subtle, but so good! Nelle stayed very close to the oven as it became closer to finished. 🙂
Looks amazing, Shannon! I look forward to trying out this recipe.
I do hope you enjoy! Thank you for stopping by. It is soooo simple and truly, lighter than you might imagine while having lovely flavor. 🙂
As Véronique noted, this is a perfect little cake for a rainy weekend. Rain here begin this afternoon and will continue off and on for the week, with cooler temps as well, woo-hoo! Thank you Shannon, off to market for the apples now~~~~🍎💕
Indeed, it really is, isn’t it? 🙂 I do hope you enjoy the recipe and enjoy the beautiful rainy day that has arrived.
Dear Rona, this is our first dry day in a week, we seriously contemplated building an arc! Enjoy your cake!
My dear Lucy, we too had far too much sogginess a week or so ago and contemplated getting the pirogues out to run our errands. But it dried up and I never begrudge the rain during the Spring, or the cooler temperatures, as the long hot, hazy days will be here before any of us are ready. Have a lovely weekend and please give Lola some ear-rubs from me. xx
This is most certainly my kind of tea cake. I am printing the recipe as we speak. I most often get my apples from a farm up in the mountains, they actually open up for business (after winter) this weekend, timing is very good! We all who visit there find that the produce there is exceptional, and the owners tell us it is a result of their mountain soil and the longer winters there. Road trip next week, thanks Shannon. And just one little aside, it has been mentioned here recently, but I have to add that the content of this blog (I consider it more of a magazine than a blog) is outstanding. It is varied, full of information, and directed to so many no matter what stage of life, or country, or style. Thank you once again for such a charming British week!
Lucy,
If I could hug you, I would want to you right now. 🙂 Thank you so much for your words of appreciation. xo
It is my good fortune to be able to do what I love and have TSLL as a place to share all that piques my curiosity and find people, such a yourself, with similar curiosities. 🙂
And to have that farm so close! How wonderful! The flavor of your cake is going to be amazing, no doubt. Enjoy the road trip! 🙂