Yorkshire Coble Cake (Spiced Apple Cake)

A Classic British Recipe for Spiced Apple Cake

Yorkshire Coble Cake is a delectable cake from Yorkshire, which is subtly spiced and filled with apple compote.

This delightful British cake is famously served in the tearooms of Staithes and Whitby in North Yorkshire.

This cake is named after the local, traditional fishing boats, cobles, that have a flat bottom and a high bow, which helps with the rough conditions which are prevalent the North Sea.

There appears to be two associated recipes with a Coble Cake or Cobble Cakes.

Cobble cakes are an individual spiced biscuit style bake, made with almonds, peel and mixed spices, finished with a lemon & vanilla icing.

Whilst Coble Cake is a basic Victoria style sponge cake, which has spices added and is sandwiched together with apple compote or apple sauce.

The latter, which is the recipe that I’m sharing today, is beautifully spiced with aromatic ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice, and makes a truly wonderful “pudding style cake” that’s great when served warm with cream.

I struggled to find the cake recipe in my cookbooks and recipe files, but I found a lovely recipe by Baker Mike online.

I tweaked it slightly, mainly by increasing the ingredients to make a larger cake.

I usually make my own apple compote, or apple sauce, but you can get some very good readymade jars of Bramley apple sauce (compote) in most of the supermarkets.

The cake is finished off with a dusting of icing sugar, and there’s no extra embellishment needed.

I hope you enjoy this delicious regional British cake if you make it – it’s fabulous when served warm warm with cream too! Karen.

Ingredients

• 8oz butter, softened
• 8oz golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 4 tablespoons of milk
• 8oz self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg, I used freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 250ml/ jar of Bramley apple sauce or homemade apple compote
• Serve with thick or whipped cream.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/360F/Gas Mark 4. Grease or butter and line two x 20cm/8in Victoria sandwich tins.

2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs gradually.

3. Add the milk, then fold in the flour and all the spices until the batter is smooth, then spoon or pour the batter into the prepared tins - level the batter by gently shaking ther tins.

4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the sponge pale golden, brown and is pulling away from the sides of the tin.

6. Assemble the cake by placing one cake, flat side up, on a serving plate, then spread over the apple sauce and sandwich together, dusting over a little icing sugar.

7. Serve in generous slices with whipped cream, pouring cream or clotted cream.

Notes

Homemade apple sauce Ingredients: 225g/8oz cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped (approx. 1 large Bramley apple)** ½ lemon, zest only (optional) 2 tbsp water 15g/½oz butter 1 tsp caster sugar.

Method: 1. Put the apples in a saucepan with the lemon zest and water.

2. Cover and cook over a low heat until they are soft and mushy. (Add an extra tablespoon water if they start to dry out.) 3. Take off the heat and beat in the butter and the sugar. 4. Allow to cool. Best served at room temperature.

**For a chunkier compote style apple sauce, use tart eating apples, and cut into even sized dice.

Nutrition Information

Amount Per Serving Calories 357Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 12gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 124mgSodium 179mgCarbohydrates 42gFiber 1gSugar 36gProtein 4g.