• 2 Bramley apples, peeled, quartered and cored
• 250g (9oz) light brown soft sugar
• 100g (3½oz) currants
• Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 100ml (3½fl oz) sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
• 2 eggs
• 250g (9oz) carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 tbsp grated root ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• Good pinch of fine sea salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 200g (7oz) spelt flour
• For the drizzle
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 50g (1¾oz) light brown soft sugar
• For the icing
• 150g (5½oz) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 300g (10½oz) icing sugar, sifted
• Very finely grated zest of 1 lemon and a good squeeze of juice
• Calendula flowers, petals picked, to decorate (optional)

Place the apples in a pan with 50g (13⁄4oz) of the sugar, the currants and the lemon juice and set over a medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly, until you have a compote that is bubbling, silky and thick. Spoon the compote into a bowl to cool.

Meanwhile, lightly grease and line a 20cm (8in) cake tin (about 7–8cm/ 23⁄4–31⁄4in deep) and heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/325°F/gas mark 3.

Pour the oil into a large bowl, add the remaining sugar and the eggs and beat with a whisk until pale and fluffy. Fold in the apple and currant compote, along with the lemon zest, grated carrot, ginger, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, stir the baking powder into the flour, then fold this gently through the wet ingredients in the bowl to form a batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake tin and level the top a bit. Loosely cover the top of the cake tin with a piece of foil to stop the cake getting too dark during baking. Bake for about 1 hour, then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Bake for a further 10 minutes and test again, if necessary.) Remove from the oven and leave in the tin while you make the drizzle.

Set a small pan over a medium heat and add the lemon juice and the sugar and bring to the simmer. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Prick the cake all over with a thin skewer and drizzle the syrup over while the cake is still warm.

While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Place the butter in the bowl
of a kitchen mixer and beat with the whisk attachment (alternatively, use a large mixing bowl and an electric whisk or hand whisk) until the butter is light and pillowy. Add half the icing sugar and continue to whisk until thoroughly combined. Then, add the remaining icing sugar, along with the lemon zest, and beat some more. Finally, add the squeeze of lemon juice to soften the mixture to the desired consistency.

Remove the cake from the tin and use a palette knife to spread the icing over the top and sides in a relatively even layer, but don’t worry if it’s a bit thin in places. Decorate with a few orange calendula petals, if available.