A rustic, scone-like butter cake packed with chunks of tart cooking apple and lemon zest, baked under a crunchy layer of demerara sugar. Served warm in wedges, the apples turn soft and jammy against the crisp sugary top. Makes 8 servings in about 2 hr 20 min.
Prep20 min
Cook50 min
Cooling20 min
Total
2 hr 20 min
Servings
8
Ingredients
Adjust yield
servings
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
10 ½ oz (300 g)tart cooking apples, 2 large (Bramley or Granny Smith), peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch (1 cm) dice
1 tbsp (15 ml)lemon juice
1 ¾ cups (225 g)all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp (10 g)baking powder, about 2 1/2 tsp
½ tsp (1 g)ground cinnamon, about 1/2 tsp
1 pinchsalt
½ cup (115 g)unsalted butter, cold, cubed
9 tbsp (115 g)granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp (3 g)lemon zest, finely grated, from 1 lemon
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter the springform pan and line the bottom with parchment.
Toss the diced tart cooking apples with the lemon juice in a bowl so they do not brown.
Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the cold unsalted butter with your fingertips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the granulated sugar and lemon zest.
Add the beaten egg and whole milk and stir to a thick, sticky batter, then fold in the apples and any lemon juice in the bowl until evenly spread through.
Spoon into the pan, level roughly (a rustic top is fine) and scatter the demerara sugar evenly over the surface.
Bake until well risen and deep golden, the top is crisp and a skewer pushed into the center (between apple pieces) comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cover loosely with foil after 35 minutes if it browns too fast.
Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then release the ring and cut into 8 wedges. Serve warm.
Tips
Use sharp cooking apples; they soften into jammy pockets while sweet dessert apples stay firm and bland.
The batter is meant to be stiff, like a soft scone dough; do not thin it beyond the milk listed.
Clotted cream is the classic Dorset partner; whipped cream or custard work too.
Good with clotted cream and a pot of English breakfast tea.
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Plan on 20 minutes of prep and 50 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour 10 minutes to rise and rest. The recipe makes 8 servings.
How should I store dorset apple cake?
Keep covered at room temperature up to 2 days, or refrigerate up to 4 days; rewarm slices in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Can I make dorset apple cake ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
A Dorset farmhouse cake made to use the county's autumn apple glut, with chunks of tart cooking apple folded into a rubbed-in butter dough and traditionally eaten warm with clotted cream. Serve it with clotted cream and a pot of English breakfast tea.
Variations
Individual portions: bake in a 12-cup muffin pan lined with papers at 375°F (190°C) for 22 to 25 minutes.
Orange-zest version: swap the lemon zest for 1 tbsp (5 g) finely grated orange zest and toss the apples in orange juice; bake time unchanged.
Sultana apple cake: fold in 75 g (1/2 cup) golden raisins with the apples; bake time unchanged.
Spice-free: leave out the cinnamon for the plainest farmhouse version; bake time unchanged.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 8 servings this recipe makes.
309Calories / serving
12.9gFat
44.9gCarbs
4.2gProtein
21.9gSugar
Whole recipe (8 servings):
~2472 cal ·
103g fat ·
359g carbs ·
34g protein ·
175g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
Recipe Rating
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