Apple Cider Cake with Butterscotch Glaze

This is the apple cider cake with butterscotch glaze that I made for the August meet of the Norwich Clandestine Cake Club meet. Actually - I made two.... because I wanted to play... but the other one will be a different blog post since I've had requests on my Facebook page for a tutorial !

Our venue was a secret until a couple of days before - but it turned out to be Whitlingham Hall Conservatory. The hall was originally built in 1865. About 50 houses and the hall make up a small private estate with immaculately maintained grounds which are not open to the public. It was a real honour for the cake club to be granted permission to use this as a venue.

This is a photo taken just outside the conservatory showing some of the cakes on offer.

Peek-a-boo !

Which one would you choose ! There were FAR too many to try them all...

For my cake, I used our Five Hearts Tube / Bundt Silicone Bakeware mould. A similar bundt ring mould or cake pan would do.

First of all, lightly butter and then dust with flour the inside of your cake mould. Alternatively, spray with cake release spray.

Preheat the oven to 175deg C Fan.

 INGREDIENTS

315g salted butter

500g sugar

500ml of cider (boil to reduce to 1 cup / 250ml approx)

375g all purpose plain flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

6 eggs

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one.

Mix in 1/3 of dry ingredients, followed by 1/3 of the reduced cider. Alternate adding remaining dry ingredients and cider reduction.

Bake at 175deg C Fan for approx 70mins in a greased and floured tube ring / bundt ring silicone bakeware mould or equivalent pan - until a skewer comes out clean.

For the glaze :

1 cup of sugar (250mls)

115g of butter

150ml of single cream

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Put all the glaze ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil. Stir constantly. It needs to boil for about 8 to 10 mins. Remove from the heat. Use a brush to spread half of it over the cake, covering all of the outside.

Put the remaining glaze in a small jug and leave to cool. This can be used for pouring a little extra on over each slice

WARNING - this stuff rises up high in the pan - use a medium size pan - not a tiny milk pan !

Serves approx 15.

Sarah-Jane Nash - www.siliconemoulds.com - August 2012