Apple and Walnut Cake

Happy Friday guys! Many years ago the garden expert from Better Homes and Gardens mentioned that planting two different types of apple tree in the same hole helps with cross pollination and an abundance of fruit. I immediately dug a hole in the back lawn and planted a red delicious and a granny smith apple tree together. We now have this huge tree which bears a tonne of fruit from late summer through most of autumn - only a small amount of red delicious though, not sure why.
I'm that neighbour who shares her crop with the rest of the street but it hardly makes a dent. Once we've had our fill of apple dishes I start to freeze bags of stewed apple for baking. One of my favorite ways to use it is in my Apple and Walnut Cake:

A slice of this cake is perfect for dessert on a cold winter's night. I serve it warm with either whipped cream or custard and its a light way to finish the heavier, hearty meals you cook when its dark and gloomy. Its a super easy cake to bake and its airy and light, and super moist because of all the luscious chunks of apple.
When I stew my apples I puree about a third of it to add to porridge or Weetbix for breakfast and the rest I leave chunky to use in pies, crumbles, cakes and muffins. I stew mine in a pot with a little caster sugar and water but you can also add cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg to add extra flavor.

We enjoy this cake for dessert, but its a lovely cake to have cooled for morning and afternoon tea as well. My sewing girls love this cake and I often make one over winter to enjoy while we sew (or chat mostly...I mean who actually sews at these weekly get togethers, right?).
It stores well in an air tight container for 2-3 days and its remains moist until the last slice is eaten.

I bake this in a round pan so I can cut nice chunky slices to serve but I also bake it in a square tin. We enjoy winter BBQ's at Hollybank Forest (we literally have the place to ourselves because everyone's at home in front of the fire) and in a square tin I can cut smaller squares which are easier to handle with a cup of thermos hot chocolate.
The smaller squares are also perfect for the lunch box and my family love them. If I pack them a delicious treat for lunchtime they refrain from buying hot chips at the café or corner shop.

Look at all those gorgeous big chunks of apple...yum, yum, yum! There's two cups of stewed apple in this cake so you're guaranteed to get a nice big serving of fruit in every slice. If you don't have stewed apples or you don't want to stew them yourself then the canned pie apples at the supermarket work perfectly as well ( I use them towards the end of winter when the freezer is bare).
The cake also has a generous scattering of chopped walnuts and lots of yummy cinnamon so its a delicious flavour explosion in your mouth.

If you would like to bake my Apple and Walnut Cake you can download the recipe card by clicking on the link or right click on the photo below and save it to your computer.

It really is a lovely cake and I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do, and you don't have to wait till winter to enjoy it - bake one today! :)