This Apple & Blueberry Bake was one of those unplanned spur of the moment bakes, they’re the best! No pressure or expectations just have and go and see what happens.
I had some eating apples that were getting old, this doesn’t happen often in our house, my two get through between 14-24 apples a week! I also had some blueberries that were soon to be past their best and I thought ‘what the heck, they’ll make a good bake’! Fruit does wonders for GF baking, the moisture in the fruit increases and retains the moisture in the bake, in fact veggies do too which is why chocolate courgette cake is so yummy! Plus a splash of blueberry colour is always a welcome sight in baking.
The preparation in making this cake is very similar to a dutch apple cake but this one uses sunflower oil instead of butter so it’s also lactose free for those Coeliac Disease who suffer with secondary lactose intolerance or lactose intolerance/allergy. While I’m on the subject I’ve written a blog on secondary lactose intolerance and another explaining in layman’s term the difference between autoimmune, intolerance and allergy.
A perfectly simple Apple and Blueberry tray bake to make for an afternoon tea, also a great way to use up apples that may be passing their best.
- 4 Eating Apples
- 4 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 4 Eggs
- 250 g Caster Sugar
- 250 g Self Raising GF Flour
- 250 ml Sunflower Oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Handful of blueberries - it's not an exact science
- 2 tbsp Granulated Sugar to sprinkle on top
- Peel and slice the apples and toss them in a bowl with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, set aside.
- Beat the eggs and caster sugar either in a mixer or by hand until thick, pale and fluffy (by hand will take a good 5-10mins so better flex those muscles!) Follow this by beating in the oil, the mixture with thicken even more.
- Stir in the flour and vanilla and finally the blueberries
- Line the bottom of a baking tin (I used a 19x26 tin any similar size will do) pour in half the cake mixture and add a layer of the sliced apples, pour on remaining cake mixture and top with remaining apple slices then sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- To avoid the bake from browning too much I covered the tin with an upside-down identical sized tin for the last 25mins - I chose not to use foil as this bake will rise to the top of the tin and I didn't want to risk the cake sticking to the foil.
- Bake at 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 for 1hour - maybe an extra 15mins
Since going gf I have soooooo missed cake and quite often crave it! A lot of the cakes I’ve tried have ended up dense but this is AMAZING! nom nom nom
Thank you!
Woohoo! thanks for that Jen, thrilled you loved it.
Hi, you’ve labelled this vegan but it has eggs in it. What egg replacement do you recommend? Baking for my bro and his gf!
Goodness Jen, you’re absolutely right, that is an error in the pinned image. If you still plan to make this I would substitute with ‘chia seed eggs’ in the case of this recipe you’d need 3tbsp ground chia seeds and 150ml of water just add to sponge batter as you would normal eggs rather than beating with caster sugar until pale (chia eggs won’t have this effect) In fact this makes the recipe easier from the point of view its a thrown it all in one bowl and beat bake! Hope I saw this in time and it works out well for you. Rebecca x
Fab! Thank you. I made the egg version for Sunday dinner pudding and will make him a separate one at a later date. It looks delicious just waiting to tuck in….!
Awesome Jen, thank you for bringing this to my attention, I’m going to email you a little thank you xxx
Gorgeous cake Rebecca, plus it’s a great way of using up excess fruit. I totally agree unplanned bakes are always the best. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor.
Thank you Julie, there’s more of a sense of achievement when you know you’ve saved fruit from certain disaster…or the compost bin hahaha