Pam's Apple Cake

I now plan to do something I despise: review a recipe that I have changed beyond all recognition.

As I said yesterday, I made an apple cake. I used a recipe from a newish cookbook which I'm really enjoying - Cakes:River Cottage Handbook #8  by Pam Corbin. The book ought to be purchased because it is certainly worth owning. But I'll let you in on a little secret: you can see many of the recipes here, thanks to Google Books. This apple cake was on page 138, just in case you really wanted to know. ;)

I did as the recipe said except:

• instead of part whole meal and part plain, I used all plain flour,
• instead of a coarse dice of the apples, I used grated (juice squeezed out) because its what I had stored in the freezer from last fall,
• I left out the cloves and added cardamom and allspice,
• and I did not put sliced apples on top but I did reduce the squeezed-out apple juice to a syrup and drizzled that over the top when it came out of the oven. 

All that said, it was good. I was a bit surprised in the moment, but in hindsight not at all, that the cake was not very sweet. It is a PERFECT cake to pass as breakfast, or snack, or something to wash down with your coffee. A friend said that it was a cake that made you want a glass of milk without being a cake that needed a glass of milk. I think I'd like it better with part wholemeal, to make it even more breakfast-y. Don't put in the cardamom, I really think it should be left to pears, not apples. Do put in the cloves.

I suppose in summary, this is a note to my future self saying, "Make the cake, just do as the recipe says."