It’s very last minute, but I’ve only just discovered at SpittoonExtra that this month’s theme for Sugar High Friday is Drunken Apples. Living in Devon, apples are plentiful at this time of year. These last two weekends alone, we have rolled windfalls at Buckfast Abbey and picked our way among them as we walked the East Devon Way.

It’s not only in Autumn that apples take centre stage here in the West Country. Cider flows freely throughout the year, with notable local presses at Dartington, Lyme Bay and Buckfastleigh.

Apples, Autumn, October, November … Guy Fawkes, Bonfire night … toffee apples, Parkin …

You can see how my mind works!

Here then is my (very-last-minute) entry for Sugar High Friday:

Apple and Cider Parkin
Adapted from a recipe in an old book edited by Jo Barker

8 oz apples, peeled and diced
3 oz demerara/raw sugar
4 oz cup golden syrup
3 oz margarine
6 oz self-raising flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg, beaten

Icing
6 oz icing/confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons cider

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Grease and line an 8 inch square cake tin.

Place the apples with 1 oz of the sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of water in a saucepan. Cover and simmer until the apples are softened. Blend or sieve to a pureé.

Warm the syrup, margarine and remaining sugar in a second saucepan until the margarine has melted. Leave to cool slightly.

Sift the flour and spices together in a large mixing bowl. Add the syrup mixture, apple pureé and egg. Beat to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until springy to the touch. Cool in the tin.

Make the icing by sifting together the icing sugar and cinnamon. Beat in enough cider to give a coating consistency. Spread over the parkin.

Cut into slices when cool.