“This loaf is delicious if eaten the day it’s made, but even better left overnight before being iced and eaten,” says Yu-Ching Lee. “An alternative to icing, if you’re not that way inclined, is to serve it thickly sliced and toasted, with a little salted butter.”
Ingredients
Apple icing
Method
1.Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 23cm x 8cm loaf tin and line with baking paper. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until incorporated. Combine lemon rind, yoghurt, cider, apple sauce, vanilla and ¼ tsp sea salt flakes in a separate bowl, then fold into butter mixture. Sift in flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, fold to combine, then fold in walnut pieces and dried apple.
2.Spread mixture evenly in tin and bake until a skewer inserted withdraws clean (45-50 minutes; cover with foil if browning too quickly). Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (about 2 hours).
3.For apple icing, beat butter, icing sugar and ¼ tsp salt flakes in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and creamy (2-3 minutes). Add apple cider and beat until well incorporated. Spread icing over loaf and decorate with extra walnuts. Loaf will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.
Unsweetened apple sauce is available from supermarkets.
Notes