Cinnamon sugar-coated maple apple cakes

Spring is my favorite season of the year – I’m a not a summery kind of girl – but the minute I saw (then tasted) these cakes it felt like fall: the moist touch of the apples and the caramely aftertaste from the maple syrup reminded me of the beautiful green/red/yellow trees I saw on my vacation. By the way, the photos are posted, in case you are curious. :D

I hope you like these as much as I did. And if you replace the maple syrup for, let’s say, honey, let me know how the cakes turn out.

UPDATE: one of my Brazilian readers made the recipe using molasses instead of maple syrup and loved it!

Cinnamon sugar-coated maple apple cakes
from Donna Hay magazine

2½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (375g) self-rising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
250g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup (175g) packed brown sugar
½ cup (120ml) maple syrup
4 eggs
6 red apples, peeled and coarsely grated
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, extra
1 cup (200g) caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF; butter really well twelve 1-cup (240ml) capacity mini bundt cake pans.

Place the flour and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs and apple and mix well to combine. Spoon into prepared pans.
Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Turn out immediately onto a rack – carefully because the cakes are really tender.
Place the extra cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Coat the cooled cakes – they are much too delicate while warm - in the sugar mixture.

Makes 12