Ingredients

Step by step

1. Peel, core and slice the apples and put them in a pan with the lemon zest, lemon juice and 25g of the butter. Cover and cook over a medium heat until the apples have collapsed into a sauce. Put the dried fruits and rum into a small pan; cover and bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Lightly toast the nuts on a baking tray for 7-8 minutes; cool. Grease a 23-24cm round/2.5 litre bundt tin (or see tip below the last recipe) with butter, dust with a little flour; tap out the excess. Sift the 350g flour into a bowl with the baking powder, bicarb, spices and salt.
3. Cream 225g butter, both sugars and the vanilla together with an electric mixer for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour mixture with the second egg. Fold the rest of the flour in, along with the apple sauce, rum-soaked fruits and 100g of the toasted nuts.
4. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 30 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack placed over a baking tray; leave to cool completely.
5. For the glaze, put the brown sugar, maple syrup, cream and butter into a medium pan and bring slowly to a rolling boil, stirring. Meanwhile, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Beat the hot sugar mixture and the vanilla extract into the icing sugar. Pour it immediately over the top of the cake, letting it run down both sides of the cake. Sprinkle with the rest of the nuts and leave for 30 minutes to set; transfer to a serving plate.
   Tip

   If you don’t have a bundt tin, use a greased and lined 23cm loose-bottomed round, deep cake tin. Bake the cake for 60-70 minutes or until cooked through – test the centre with a skewer.