MOIST CARAMEL AND APPLE LOAF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160 C, Gas 3, 300 F. Grease and line your baking tin. See here for how to line.
• Get all your ingredients ready, i.e sieve the flour, and add the salt and baking powder to the flour together with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Peel and core the apples and slice, then place in a bowl and add the remaining cinnamon and nutmeg, together with a squeeze of lemon juice. Give the slices a toss so they are all coated evenly.
• Start with making the cake batter by creaming the butter and sugar until a pale light colour. Add the dulce de leche and combine.
• Slowly add the beaten eggs to the mixer, on a low speed setting, a bit at a time. If the mixture starts to curdle or split, add a spoonful of your sieved flour, keep on adding the eggs, and a bit of flour if necessary, until all the eggs are added.
• Add half the milk with half of the flour, keeping the mixer on a slow speed. Once combined, add the remaining milk and gently fold in the remaining flour until combined.
• Transfer HALF the cake mixture to the greased and lined loaf tin then arrange half the apple slices along the pan. Add the remaining cake mixture, and finally arrange the remaining apple slices along the top. The slices will sink under the surface during baking so don't worry!
• Place in the oven for 1 hr 20 minutes to 1 hr and 30 minutes.
• *** Please do test if the cake is done by using a skewer and poke it in the middle to see that it comes out clean. Every oven is different and cook times may vary a little. If your cake needs a little longer, you can cover the top with some foil if you think it is getting too brown. Depending of which apples you use, they all contain varying amounts of water which can cause the bake time to be slightly different for everyone, so do check for doneness!
• Have a cup of tea!
• When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and leave in the cake tin until cool enough to transfer to a cooling rack. It is also nice to drizzle some of the dulce de leche over the top!
• Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.