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Whole Roasted Apple Bara Brith
Introduction from Gaz Oakley
This is my all-time favourite dessert. I don’t eat a lot of sugar, but this is an exception. I’ve put a spin on this childhood classic by baking whole apples and placing them in the centre of the cake. Bara brith translates from Welsh as ‘speckled bread’.
Ingredients
Essential kit
You will need: two 450g (1lb) loaf tins (pans).
Method
Start by chopping the dried fruit quite finely before placing it in a large bowl with the chia seeds. Pour over the hot tea, then allow the fruit to soak it up and slightly plump up for around 2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan (400°F/Gas Mark 6). Grease two 450g (1lb) loaf tins (pans) with a little olive oil and line them with baking parchment.
Place the apples in a roasting tray, sprinkle over the caster sugar and cinnamon, then roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
Once the dried fruit has plumped up, fold the brown sugar and olive oil through the mixture until well incorporated. Then sift the flour, salt and mixed spice into the bowl and mix lightly until just combined – don’t over-mix.
Spoon around a 4cm (1½-inch) depth of cake mixture into the base of each loaf tin, then place 2 roasted apples into each, stalk-side up. Spoon the remaining cake batter all around the apples, filling the loaf tins.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then cover the tins with foil and bake for a further 25 minutes. Remove from the oven but leave covered for another 20 minutes to finish cooking through.
When cooled, slice thickly and enjoy. You can also toast the slices in a non-stick pan to make them deliciously crisp.
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