Fold in the Flour ...

We took the Christmas decorations down today. As usual, the house feels bare, and a little bleak. It is strange to think that the next time they will go back up, Sam will be over 2 and will probably have an inkling into what is going on, and will have his first, excited, Christmas. Santa will probably visit, after having taken a break over the last few years. We'll need to leave a little something out for him, of course. Poor Santa - I happen to have it on very good authority - can get a little bit fed up of mince pie after mince pie at every house, which is what we have left out for him before. So when he visits in 2013, he may have a bit of a change.  This recipe is actually the last of my festive baking, and was supposed to be an entry for 'Forever Nigella' , the blogging challenge organised by Sarah of Maison Cupcake , and for which December's theme was Christmas (and was hosted by Laura Loves Cakes ). But Christmas turned ...

I don't tend to bake all that often with fruit. Unless my lovingly produced goodies contain some form of chocolate, they don't tend to be well received by certain quarters of the household. Apple is one of the few exceptions, as I know that at least Mike will be receptive. A few weeks back I bought some cooking apples, with the intention of using them to make the selected recipe for the Weekly Bake Off . But I ran out of time, so never got around to it. Pretty soon, every time I opened the fridge, the apples would glare at me. I began to feel guilty for what I feared would be yet another example of  profligate waste. That is, buying something intending to use it for something specific and then having to throw it out as it has gone off before I've actually got around to doing it. But then I remembered this recipe, which some years ago, I used to often make for Mike. I don't really know why I stopped, as it a gorgeous cake, which is perfect either as a warm desser...