sweet enough bakes

Lately, I’ve been putting spelt flour into my home-made bread. Much as I would love to have the time to make my bread by hand – and to live in a house which is warm enough for it to rise consistently – I have a breadmaker which is quick and very reliable. Spelt (Triticum spelta; Triticum dicoccum), also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat which has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BC. In Greek mythology, spelt was apparently a gift to the Greeks from Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and agriculture. It is a cross of wild grasses and early cultivated cereals which was widely grown in Roman times, and it is becoming more popular again now. It is said to be a good source of dietary fibre, protein, some B vitamins and some minerals. Adding spelt flour (50:50 with normal strong white bread flour) makes very tasty bread.

I found this recipe on the side of a packet of Waitrose spelt flour and made it with less sugar. I still had some eating apples from our tree sitting around so I used those rather than cooking apples. They are plenty sweet enough and made a very nice cake.

Spelt, apple and cinnamon cake (pdf: Spelt, apple and cinnamon cake)

75g softened butter

40g caster sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

125g spelt flour

100g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eating apples, cored and grated

1. Preheat the oven to 180/160 fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 20-21cm round tin
2. Whisk butter and sugar until pale and fluffy and then gradually add the egg
3. Mix together the flours, baking powder and cinnamon and fold into the mixture. Add the apples and stir until fully mixed
4. Put into tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so before removing from tin to cool fully