Apple, Walnut & Sultana Loaf

I am in love with Tessa Kiros.. well her books.

They are not simply recipe books- scientific equations for food production.

They are a treatise on life..

I wanted to make a fruity not too sweet, almost breadish cake, so I turned to her book "Apples for Jam" for inspiration.

The following, is an adaptation of her recipe "Apple Bread with Sugar & Cinnamon Topping".

This is what she writes about it:

I love the name apple bread- it carries me off in my fantasy to some very green hills with chunky plates and jugs of fresh cream, with rosy cheeked children skipping about here and there. It is perfect for snacks, breakfast, with a meal or as a meal with a few chunks of cheese...

This cake is moorish. Although I did share it with cucciolo mio & a few friends, it is already gone, with not even a crumb remaining.

Cucciolo mio had 2 slices (still warm) last night, with a smear of organic butter, and a mug of milk. Mmmn, comfort food.

Recipe
Ingredients:

1 cup red wine (I used leftovers from my pasta & Andrea Bocelli night)

1/2 cup sultanas

1 red apple, peeled & cored

1/2 vanilla pod, split open (or dash of vanilla essence)

1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder)

2 Tbs raw granulated sugar

1/2 cup raw granulated sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup wholemeal flour, sifted

1tsp bicarb soda

1tsp baking powder

1tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup apples, peeled, cored & coarsely grated

Used vanilla bean insides

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Method:

1.Place red wine, sultanas, apple, vanilla pods, cinnamon & 2 Tbs sugar in a saucepan on medium-high heat, and bring to boil. Cook on a gentle boil, until apple is tender, but not mooshy.

2.Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Prepare a loaf pan.

3.In a large bowl, beat together oil and 1/2 cup sugar. Mash cooked apple, and add to bowl, beating well.

4.Sift the flour, bicarb soda, baking powder & cinnamon in. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon, well.

5.Pour wine & sultana mixture through a strainer, into a container. (The wine is yummy on fruit as a syrup, or just drunk as a mulled wine)

6.Stir in grated apples, walnuts & sultanas to bowl.

7.Take vanilla pod from wine pot, and scrape out the inside seeds into the bowl (or add vanilla essence). Stir well.

8.Spoon mixture into loaf pan, and back for about 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes.

If the top starts to brown before it's done, cover with foil.

9.Turn out onto cooling racks- but DO eat a slice while still warm..