AUTUMN BAKES! 🎃🥧

Sainsbury’s Autumn Spiced Apple and Walnut Cake 🍂✨

Stop by Sainsbury’s at The Square for all the ingredients to make this delicious cake, bursting with autumn spices, sweet apple chunks and crunchy walnuts is the ultimate cosy treat to enjoy with a steaming cup of tea on a crisp autumn afternoon.

Ingredients 🍁🧡

Serves 8-10 people

Dry ingredients

• 225 g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves or allspice
• Pinch of salt

Wet ingredients

• 175 g unsalted butter, softened (or a baking block / spreadable butter from Sainsbury’s)
• 150 g caster sugar
• 75 g light soft brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120 ml milk

Fruit / nuts / add-ins

• 2 medium apples (e.g. Bramley or eating apple), peeled, cored and chopped into ~1 cm cubes (Bramley for tartness or Jazz/Gala for sweetness)
• 100 g walnuts, roughly chopped
• (Optional) 50 g raisins or sultanas, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained

For topping (optional)

• A handful of walnut halves or apple slices
• A light dusting of icing sugar

Method 🕯️🍂

1. Preheat oven & prepare tin
   Preheat your oven to 170 °C (fan) / 190 °C (conventional) / gas mark 5. Grease a 20–22 cm round cake tin (or line with baking parchment), or a 24 cm loaf tin.
2. Mix dry ingredients
   In a bowl, whisk together the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves / allspice. Set aside.
3. Cream butter & sugars
   In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with the caster sugar and soft brown sugar until pale and fluffy (about 3–4 minutes with an electric mixer, or a bit longer by hand).
4. Add eggs & vanilla
   Crack in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Alternate milk & dry mix
   Add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then half the milk, then another third of dry, then the rest of the milk, finishing with the last dry ingredients. Mix gently until just combined (don’t overmix).
6. Fold in apples, walnuts (and optional raisins)
   Gently fold in the chopped apples and walnuts (and soaked raisins if using) until evenly distributed.
7. Transfer to tin & top
   Pour the batter into your prepared tin and level the surface. Press a few walnut halves or apple slices on top if you like decorative detail.
8. Bake
   • For round tin: bake approx. 45–55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean (with maybe a few moist crumbs).
   • For loaf tin: bake approx. 55–65 minutes (check after 50 mins).
     If the top is browning too fast, loosely tent with foil in the final 10 minutes.
9. Cool & serve
   Let the cake cool in the tin for 10–15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust lightly with icing sugar if desired.

Serving suggestions

• Serve slices warm or at room temperature, perhaps with a dollop of crème fraîche, vanilla ice cream, or thick custard.
• A drizzle of honey or maple syrup over each slice adds a lovely autumnal touch.

Here’s your sign to stop by Sainsbury’s and stock up on everything you need to bake this delicious spiced apple and walnut cake. Then head home, pop the kettle on, slip into your cosiest clothes and enjoy a warm slice with a steaming cup of tea, the perfect autumn afternoon treat! ☕🎃