Our Teatime Favorite: Dorset Apple Cake
There are some things the British got right. One of them is teatime.
My late husband, Simon, taught me about it by always putting the kettle on at 3 p.m. As he poured boiling water into the teapot, he’d set out delicate teacups (not mugs) and place something sweet on the table between us. Often it was shortbread from the red tin. Or a packet of digestives—how the British landed on that name for cookies, I’ll never know.
I didn’t understand why teatime was such a thing until I took part in the ritual. There’s something deeply grounding about pausing mid-afternoon for a bit of sugar and caffeine, right when your energy starts to dip. By the time the teapot ran dry, I always felt calmer—and restored.
Across the UK, teatime comes with regional specialties. Simon’s family is from Dorset, in the south of England, and one of his favorites was Dorset Apple Cake. Bake it on the weekend, and you can enjoy it with tea all week—it stays fresh for days, simply wrapped in a tea towel and tucked into the breadbox.
A Bramley apple at the ranch.
Simon always said it tasted best with Bramley apples, the kind grown back home. Bramleys are large cooking apples—too tart to eat raw—and hard to find in the States. Tart Granny Smith apples make a good substitute. For his 50th birthday, we planted two baby Bramley trees on the ranch. This year, they finally bore fruit. He wasn’t here to see them, but we’ll think of him every time we make his cake with apples from his trees.
Here’s a classic British recipe, much like the one Simon made. Traditionally, it’s eaten at teatime, toasted and spread with butter.
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Makes: one 8 or 9 inch cake (see baker’s note in recipe)
150g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the pan
75g caster sugar
75g soft light brown sugar
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp fine salt, plus a pinch
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature
175g plain flour
35g wholemeal flour (or wholemeal spelt flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 medium Bramley or Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch, for U.S. bakers)
15g demerara or turbinado sugar
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Preheat the oven to 190C (375 F). Grease a 20cm/8in (or 9in) cake tin with butter.
Beat 150g butter with the caster sugar, light brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla extract using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix the flours, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl, then gradually mix into the butter, sugar and egg mixture using a spatula or wooden spoon.
Stir well to make sure there are no pockets of flour.
Mix the apple pieces with the cornflour until well coated, then combine with the cake mixture.
Tip the cake mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle it with demerara or turbinado sugar. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. (Baker’s note: Because she used a 9 inch pan, Alison shortened the bake time to 30 minutes. Either way, it’s best to keep an eye on your oven at 30 minutes, so the cake doesn’t burn).
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before serving with a cup of tea or a drizzle of cream.
