what better gift for a dear friend than making them a moist spiced apple cake?! added bonus is you get to help eat the goodness too.

foodie bit

3 small unpeeled granny smith apples, grated

60ml lemon juice

200g brown sugar

1tsp salt

260g greek yoghurt

110ml extra virgin olive oil

3 eggs

1 lemon, finely zested

250g self raising flour

2tsp baking powder

Sweet spice blend:

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground cardamom seeds

to do bit

preheat oven to 180°C

grate the apples and quickly place in a bowl with the lemon juice, mix well to combine and set aside.

in a small mixing bowl, using your fingers, combine the brown sugar, spice mixture and salt and set aside.

in a large mixing bowl whisk together the yoghurt, olive oil, eggs and lemon zest. squeeze out two-thirds of the grated apple, discarding any liquid, and use a spatula to mix apple into the yoghurt mixture.

into this batter, fold two-thirds of the spiced sugar, the flour and baking powder. once it is nicely amalgamated, spoon this batter into a lined 26 cm springform cake tin.

squeeze out the remaining apple, discarding any liquid, and spread apple more or less evenly over the top of the cake. use your fingertips to lightly press bits of it into the batter. sprinkle remaining spiced sugar over the cake, lightly pressing bits of it into the batter.

bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean, making the cake just moist enough.

allow it to cool until warm. and then serve with cream or ice-cream. cake will store in an airtight container for a good few days if for some strange reason you don't eat the whole cake in one sitting.