I think growing fruit adds another dimension to a garden, from beautiful blossom in spring to watching the fruit slowly mature and ripen and finally enjoying the taste of your own apples, pears and plums. From growing fruiting trees to wiring up a boundary wall or fence or putting in step over fruit, no sunny garden is too small to squeeze in some fruit somewhere. I regularly add fruit to client’s gardens and they all enjoy it.
If you have a glut of cooking apples below is a family recipe for a German Apple Cake which makes a lovely moist cake – just right as a treat after a busy day in the garden.
German Apple Cake:
10 oz of S.R. Flour
6 oz of white sugar
8 oz of melted butter
2 large beaten eggs.
Mix together to make a fairly runny mixture.
Filling:
1 lb of cooking apples, peeled and sliced
a little lemon juice
4 0z of sultanas
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
chopped walnuts (optional)
Sprinkle of demerara sugar.
Grease 10 inch cake tin. Cover with half to two-thirds of the mixture. Arrange apples, sultanas and walnuts on top. Sprinkle on lemon juice and cinnamon. Cover with rest of mixture. Sprinkle top with demerara sugar. Cook for 50-60 minutes at 325 – 350 degrees or 170 – 180 C.