Soft and delicately spiced, this apple, dried fruit & hazelnut loaf is light enough to have for breakfast, but is also in perfect company with an afternoon coffee or tea.
I don’t have a strong sweet tooth and nine times out of ten, when craving something sweet, I am more than happy with a juicy or crisp fruit, some nuts mixed with honey or a handful of dried fruit. Cheese and crackers seem to be my vice - though to be fair, I can never resist syrupy desserts like baklava, kataifi or galaktoboureko, most of which hail from Turkey but have long been a much loved part of Greek cooking as well.
There is something however about fall and winter, especially fall, that makes me crave baking - the act possibly more than the outcome it will yield. A warm kitchen, a work surface covered with seasonal fruit and spices, maybe some dark chocolate too, a cup of coffee within arm’s reach - all that are music to my ears, which I seem to follow time and time again once the weather cools off and the days are shorter.
This loaf is everything I love about seasonal baking; there’s cinnamon and cloves (often overlooked, but to me they encapsulate autumnal bliss and the promise of the holidays to come), orange zest and a crisp apple; there’s a simple batter made of vegetable oil, for a lighter, fluffier loaf, a little sugar and a little petimezi (grape molasses, which I love cooking with), which gives the pudding it’s warm colour and a caramel like taste. And then, best of all, there’s dried fruit (Greek sultanas and raisins, delicious whichever way you have them) and toasted hazelnuts, used almost whole, because I love biting into something crunchy, every time.
A little stirring, time in the oven and out it comes, gloriously humble and possibly even better when dusted with some icing sugar and served with a generous drizzle of slightly warm honey.
Apple, dried fruit & hazelnut loaf
WHAT
3 medium eggs
75g caster sugar
75g petimezi (grape molasses)
120ml vegetable oil
1 large sweet apple, grated
80g dried fruit (I used sultanas & raisins)
Zest from 1 large orange
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
160g all purspose flour
50g unsalted hazelnuts, toasted & halved (or roughly chopped)
HOW
To serve (all optional): icing sugar, honey, Greek yogurt or cream
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C FAN); lightly grease a 900g loaf tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Using a hand-held mixer, beat the eggs, sugar and petimezi, until frothy. Add the vegetable oil and beat again.
Tip in the grated apple (try to drain most of its juice), the dried fruit, zest and spices and beat once again.
Finally, add the flour and hazelnuts and fold gently with a spatula to incorporate.
Pour into the loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 45’ or until an inserted skewer comes out clean (if the top begins to brown too quickly, loosely cover with some foil).
Let cool slightly, dust with some icing sugar (if wanted) and serve with some honey and Greek yogurt or cream.
