Apple, rye and ginger teacake

There's something very comforting about teacakes. I suppose it's the name, containing as it does two very cosy concepts - tea and cake. As the name also suggests, it's not fancy, just a little something to have while you pause. There's generally not enough pausing in our lives. So let this be an incentive - warm ginger, sweet apples, nutty rye. Quick to assemble, even quicker to eat. But don't rush. Take your time. That's the point.




Apple, rye and ginger teacake
Adapted from a recipe in the Sydney Morning Herald by Frank Camorra

I'd never used rye flour before and loved the nutty taste and chewy texture of it in combination with the apples and ginger. If you can't find it easily (mine came from my local fruit and veg store that has a good deli section) swapping it for wholemeal (wholewheat) flour would work differently but just as well I would think.


150g butter, softened
150g sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
3 eggs
80g self-raising flour
80g rye flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 apples (I used Granny Smith)


Preheat the oven to 170 deg C and grease and line a springform tin with baking paper. 

Beat the butter and 150g sugar til pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift in the flours, baking powder and ginger and fold through gently.

Peel the apples, cut into quarters, remove the cores and cut lengthways into slices about 1/2 cm thick. 

Pour batter into cake tin and top with apple slices, then sprinkle remaining sugar on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.