From my mum - I've made it with cooking apples, it's fine. Absolutely divine!
APPLE CAKE
4oz butter (at room temp)
4 oz caster sugar (ordinary granulated will do)
3oz SR flour
4oz ground almonds
1 level teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
2 teaspoons almond essence (don?t overdo ? too much can make it bitter)
2 large or 3 small dessert apples
Heat oven to 180ºC (165ºC works in our fan oven)
Butter a cake tin (8? round, or roughly equivalent other shape) and line base and sides with greaseproof or baking paper.
Sift flour, almonds and baking powder together. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy (use hand whisk if you have one). Beat eggs and almond essence together, then add to butter mixture, beating well between additions. Add a wee bit of four if it starts to curdle, then fold in flour mixture, using metal spoon.
Peel, core and roughly chop apples, stir into cake mixture. Spread mixture in cake tin (sometimes helps to make a wee hollow in the middle) and bake for 45-60 minutes. You could cover the top with greaseproof too, to stop it getting too well done.
Test with skewer, although this is not foolproof as it is a moist cake ? best test is probably if the cake has begun to shrink from sides of tin ? it?s a bit trial and error, sorry! 60 minutes is probably too long, but depends on oven. It still tastes OK if it?s well done.
Great warm with cream, as a pudding with custard, or just cold.