A great bake to enjoy on an autumn afternoon, with a more technical caramel drizzle for those who want to make it a showstopper!

Serves: 10
Ready in: 1hr 30 mins 

Ingredients

For the cake

• 200g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g soft dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g self-raising flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 apples, peeled and chopped into small chunks
• 1 tsp demerara sugar (optional)

For the caramel

• 50g caster sugar
• 20g unsalted butter
• 30g double cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/gas 2½. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
2. Beat the butter together with the sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs a little at a time, beating between additions. Add the flour, spices, baking powder and a pinch of salt and fold into the mix until combined, then gently stir in the apples.
3. Tip the cake batter into the prepared tin and spread out evenly. Scatter with the demerara sugar (if using), then bake in the oven for 1 hour – 1 hour 10 mins until golden and cooked through.
4. If you want to make the caramel, put the sugar in a small, heavy-based pan. Gently heat until the sugar has dissolved, swirling the pan to agitate the sugar if needed. Turn up the heat and bubble until it turns a golden colour, swirling the pan a little to allow this to happen evenly but without stirring. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter, followed by the cream (it will bubble furiously for a minute, so take care). Serve spooned over the cake.