Spiced Apple and Giant Sultana Bundt with Maple Glaze

This was the cake I made for our fruity themed 'Each Peach Pear Plum' cake club on Saturday. It's a recipe I have used before, but it was slightly modified to allow more fruit. I stumbled across giant sultanas whilst perusing 'diet food' in Marks and Spencers. The moist apples in this cake plump up the dried fruit to look more like apricots! 

You don't have to use the maple glaze I have added below, but it does mean that you get a beautifully crystallised crust. It's a big cake with big flavours. A big piece is required...

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 Bramley apples - coarsely grated
• 420g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 200g giant sultanas - these look like small apricots. If you can't find them, regular ones will do.
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 100g soft dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 250ml vegetable oil in a pouring jug
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients:

• 75ml maple syrup
• 25g unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180 C
2. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt tin. I would recommend a fairly plain one like the Anniversary tin because of protruding apples and sultanas! It's also a 'big' mix so it needs room to grow...
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices into a bowl.
4. Stir in the sultanas - this gives them a nice coating of flour.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, caster sugar and brown sugar for 3 mins on a medium speed.
6. Leave the mixer on and start to pour in the oil, whisking as you go! Mix for another 2 mins.
7. Add the grated apple and vanilla extract (if lots of juice has come out of the apples, leave that out - this depends on the apples!) 
8. Mix on a low speed until the apple is well distributed in the mix. 
9. Sieve in the flour mixture in two lots, then tip in the sultanas which will have been 'caught' by your sieve.
10. When it is nearly combined, give it a quick mix with the mixer for about 10 seconds on a low speed. 
11. Pour into your prepared bundt tin.It's quite liquid so it doesn't really need teasing into place.
12. Bake in the middle of the oven for about an hour and fifteen minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is shrinking away from the sides of the tin slightly.
13. When the cake is out of the oven, make the glaze by warming the maple syrup and butter in a small pan until the butter is melted. 
14. At this point, turn up the heat slightly, and allow it to boil for about a minute.
15. Take off the heat and add the vanilla extract.
16. When the cake has cooled for 10 minutes, turn it out and brush with the glaze. The warm cake will just drink it up! You don't need to use all the glaze if you don't want to.

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