Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a cook by any means. I hold my hands up when it comes to the kitchen because I’m definitely the type of person who can barely boil an egg and regularly burns toast, my mother can’t understand it. I had written myself off as a lost cause until one day I found some old recipes I had attempted back in secondary school. I suddenly found the urge to prove both myself and everyone else wrong by showing that I can actually cook something half decent … that’s where Mac’s Munchin’ Monday came from.
Every Monday I’m going to bake/cook something, track my progress and give all of my readers the recipe, and perhaps something to laugh at depending on how it goes…
Ingredients
115g butter/margarine
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
165 brown sugar
225g of cooking apples
1 lemon
1 egg
2-3 tablespoons of milk
Cinnamon (optional)
Tips
- Set up utensils in front of you and place them on either a plate or a tissue (if you want to limit the washing up). This will reduce the mess on your worktop and you will also know exactly where everything is at all times which puts a stop to all the running around.
- I like to prepare the mixing bowl (flour, baking powder, margarine & sugar) and set it aside before I make a start on the apples. This ensures that the apples don’t turn brown as quickly.
- Dip the apples in lemon juice as you chop to reduce brownness.
- Don’t sprinkle too much sugar and cinnamon on top of the cake (at the end) as it won’t allow the mixture to set properly causing it to crack.
Steps
1. Grease a cake tin of about 18cm and fill with greaseproof paper
2. Sieve flour and baking powder into a large bowl before adding the margarine. Do not mix with a mixer, rub the ingredients together until it looks and feels like breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in 115g of brown sugar (not entire 165g).
4. Squeeze the lemon juice into a smaller bowl.
5. Peel, chop and core the apples. I like to use 2 cooking apples but it’s up to you how many you want to include. Drop each piece into the small lemon juice bowl as you go, do not wait until everything is chopped because the apples will turn brown.
6. Mix the apples into the larger bowl and add one egg along with some milk until the mixture looks like it can be poured in but try not to make it too watery. A nice thick flowing texture is best.
7. Evenly fill the cake tin with the mixture and sprinkle the remainder of the sugar on top if you wish. I like to only use a little bit on top so the cake isn’t too sugary and doesn’t crack. If you’re a cinnamon fan you can mix it in with the sugar.
8. Place the tin in the oven at 180 degrees for about 50 minutes depending on your oven. However, allow the cake to cool before removing it from the tin because, again, it may fall apart.
Luckily it didn’t turn out a disaster…this time…
if you don’t put too much sugar on top it should look like the image below.
if you choose to use a lot of sugar and cinnamon it should look somewhat like this on the right.
So there you have it, day 1 of Mac’s Munchin’ Monday is done and dusted and if you decide to try out this recipe I hope it turns out nice and tasty, maybe it’ll even help with those Monday blues!
Enjoy! 🙂
Macs Moments 