This is the kind of recipe for n everyday sort of cake that comes in useful for all of those windfall apples your neighbours start to deliver. It’s based on a basic Dorset apple cake recipe and can be tweaked to fit in with whatever lies in the cupboard.

(Makes one apple cake)

225g wholemeal or plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Grating of nutmeg or 1 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon if preferred
175g light muscovado sugar or some combination of caster with up to very dark
150g butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
4 medium apples, can be fairly tangy (I like Cox’s), diced or grated (it will disappear into the cake if grated)
Demerara or granulated sugar, to top if you want
2 tbsp flaked almonds

Heat the oven to 160C and grease a 20cm cake tin. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and sugar in a large bowl and stir in the butter and eggs. Beat together for a minute or so until well combined.

Stir in the apples until well distributed, then spoon into the tin. Smooth the top and then sprinkle with the demerara. Bake for an hour, then add the almonds and bake for about 15-25 minutes more until coming away from the tin.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin then lift onto a rack to cool completely.