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Mulled apple and spelt loaf

Yoghurt, apple sauce, nutmeg and cinnamon add up to one tasty package that's as good for breakfast as it is afternoon tea.

  • 20 mins preparation
  • 45 mins cooking plus cooling
  • Serves 6 - 8
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"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

  • 100 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 220 gm (1 cup) caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 50 gm Greek-style yoghurt
  • 50 ml apple cider
  • 200 gm unsweetened apple sauce (see note)
  • ½ vanilla extract
  • 210 white spelt flour
  • ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ tsp cardamom
  • 40 gm coarsely chopped walnuts, plus extra to serve
  • 30 gm dried apple, chopped
Apple icing
  • 25 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 125 gm pure icing sugar, sifted
  • 20 ml apple cider

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.

Notes

Unsweetened apple sauce is available from supermarkets.

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