Here's One I Made Earlier...

Few things in life are as pleasant as a Sunday afternoon in the kitchen. This week I tried a new recipe from my Hummingbird Bakery cookbook - Nutty Apple Loaf. The end result was a wholesome, delicious, crumbly loaf that was gobbled up in just two days! Last night, I made another for my book club and took some photographs along the way...

175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
140g soft light brown sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
2 eggs
140g plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g shelled mixed nuts, chopped
50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

1. Put the butter, sugar and strawberry jam in an electric mixer and cream together until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl, then beat into the butter mixture.

4. Stir in the nuts, chocolate and apples into the mixture by hand until evenly dispersed. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight if possible. (This gives your ingredients a chance to "chill out" and get to know each other)

5. Preaheat the oven to 170ºC (325ºF) Gas 3.

6. Pour the mixture into a 23x13cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour, and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until brown and the sponge feels firm to the touch. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean, but for a little melted chocolate. Leave the cake to cook slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 8-10 slices.