Wheat-free apple cake with no added sugar- use those windfall apples!

So, back to the apples!  Occasionally I enjoy a slice of cake;  I don't mean an airy-fairy gateau, which is fine to end a meal, but a slice of good, wholesome cake to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.  It has to be a slice of something which will be simple to eat, no cake forks necessary, and satisfying - there must be some substance to it - something to get my teeth into and enjoy.

This apple cake ticks all the boxes, and, importantly at the moment, it utilises some of those apples.  Windfalls, or those mis-shapen ones are ideal as they're going to be grated.

You'll need:
200g flour, I used barley, but to make it gluten free choose your own favourite flour(s) - maybe rice and potato, or gram and soya 
half a teaspoon each of cinnamon and mixed spice - to taste
half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
100g margarine
275g mixed dried fruit, I used raisins, sultanas and chopped dates
230g coarsely grated cooking apples (eating apples will give a sweeter cake, and the texture will be slightly different)
2 tsps of egg replacer made up with 4 tblsps of water or fruit juice

Rub the fat into the sifted flour, spices and bicarb until it's like breadcrumbs.

Coarsely grate the apple; I leave the skins on mine as they're organic, but you can peel yours if you like.  The weight given is of the grated apple, which, in my case, equated to two large and two medium windfall apples once I'd cut off the bruised and battered sections!

Mix the fruits into the dry mixture, then bind with the egg replacer liquid.  Turn into an 8" lined cake tin and bake in a moderate oven, 175C in my fan oven, 180C, 350F or gas mark 4 otherwise.

 Bake for about an hour and a quarter, more or less depending on your oven, the flour used etc.  Test with a warmed skewer inserted in the centre - it it comes out clean, it's done:-)  If not, give it a further quarter of an hour and test again.  It should be a lovely golden brown - rather like the splendid one below, which has been allowed to cool completely before slicing.

Many fruit cake recipes tell you to shake your dried fruit with flour to avoid the problem of all the fruit sinking to the bottom of the cake, but, as you can see, it's certainly not necessary in this recipe.

Now, time to put the kettle on, I think:-)