This recipe was handed down through my family, from my great-grandmother to my mother and when I moved to Ireland from Germany, I brought it with me – every year in the weeks before Christmas, this is one of my favourite things to bake. It just so happens to be vegan, too! A gently spiced, moist, sumptuous treat that’s amazing with a bit of (vegan) butter and a cup of tea.

Ingredients

• 500g peeled and grated apple
• 200g sugar
• 125g raisins
• 6 dried apricots, chopped
• 70g almonds, chopped
• 1 heaped tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• a pinch of salt
• 40ml rum (or fruit juice)
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Mix the apple and sugar in a large mixing bowl and allow it to sit in the fridge overnight or for an hour or so at room temperature.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 175C. Line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the apple and sugar mixture (which should now be very wet) and mix to evenly combine the ingredients into a thick, spoonable batter.
4. Spread the batter into the lined loaf tin and bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or so until it is risen and set. It should still be moist but when you insert a skewer it should come out mostly dry with a few damp crumbs.
5. Allow the cake to cool in the tin then remove and slice it thickly. This cake stays fresh for a week in the fridge if tightly wrapped.