Chunky Apple Cake

Begin by sifting the flour, baking powder and spices into a roomy mixing bowl, lifting the sieve quite high to give the flour a good airing as it goes down.

Next chop the apples into small dice (with or without peel, just as you like). Then place them in a bowl and toss them with one tablespoon of the sieved flour mixture. Then add the eggs, butter and sugar to the rest of the flour, and using an electric hand whisk, combine them for about 1 minute until you have a smooth creamy consistency. After that fold in the grated orange zest, mixed peel and diced apple. If the mixture seems a little dry, add a tablespoon of milk. Now spoon the cake mix into the prepared tin and level it off with the back of a spoon.

Then bake near the centre of the oven for about one hour or until the cake feels springy in the centre when lightly pressed with a fingertip and just shows signs of shrinking away from the edge of the tin. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. This looks nice dusted with sifted icing sugar just before serving. Store in an airtight tin.

You can watch more of Delia's cake recipes being made in our Cookery School Videos on this page.