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Moist lumberjack cake made with apples and dates topped with coconut caramel, served on a plate with a slice cut out showing the soft crumb.

Lumberjack Cake

Lumberjack Cake is a wonderfully moist, old-fashioned fruit cake made with softened dates, apples, butter, sugar, eggs, and warm vanilla,creating a rich caramel-like flavour and tender crumb. The cake is baked first,then finished with a buttery brown sugar, coconut, and milk topping that is spread over the hot cake and lightly caramelised in the oven.
The result is a deeply moist cake with a soft fruit base and a sweet, slightly chewy coconut topping—perfect for afternoon tea or a comforting homemade dessert.
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Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings: 8 People
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Baking
Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

Cake
  • 2 Apples diced or grated (Note 1)
  • 185 g Pitted Dates diced
  • 5 g Bicarbonate of soda
  • 250 g Boiling water
  • 125 g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
  • 250 g Castor Sugar
  • 1 Egg 70g or 2 smaller egg(as seen in video)
  • 5 gm Vanilla bean
  • 330 g Plain Flour
  • 2 g Fine Salt
Topping
  • 125 g Soft brown Sugar
  • 60 g Unsalted butter
  • 85 g Full cream Milk
  • 60 g Desiccated Coconut
Oil
  • Olive oil for the tin

Equipment

  • 1 22cm Spring form
  • 1 Oven
  • 1 kettle
  • 1 Stand Mixer
  • 1 Flat Beater
  • 1 stove
  • 1 Saucepan
  • 1 large spoon
  • 1 knife
  • 1 Oil Brush
  • 1 scraper
  • 1 Spatula
  • 1 Sieve

Method
 

Cake
  1. Heat the oven 180C
  2. Oil and line a 22cm tin with baking paper
  3. Grate or chop the apples and chop the dates add to a bowl
  4. Boil the water and add the bicarbonate of soda to the apple and dates and add the boiling water mix to activate the bicarbonate of soda (it will start to bubble).
  5. Set aside to cool for around 10 minutes
  6. Add the butter and sugar into the stand mixer with a flat beater and whip until white
  7. Add in the egg (if using a large one or one at a time (if using two smaller eggs) to mix until nice and light.
  8. Sift the flour
  9. Add 1/3 flour into the mixer at a time and mix through on a low speed
  10. In-between mix the cooled apple and dates with the water about a 1/3 at a time.
  11. Alternate into the mixer apple mix, flour, apple mix until all incorporated on a low speed
  12. Don’t overmix
  13. Pour into the tin and bake until 85C or a clean skewer comes out clean around 45 mins
Topping
  1. Prepare the topping
  2. Add all the ingredients into a pot on the stove and bring to a simmer
  3. Turn off the heat
  4. Add the topping to the cake after it is cooked around 45 mins
  5. Spread evenly over the top of the cake and place back in the oven for 15-20 mins until the top is caramelised
  6. Cool completely before taking out of the tin
  7. Add a dusting of icing sugar sifted over a cool cake

Video

Notes

Note 1- green apples give a fabulous flavour against the lumberjack topping but any seasonal apple firm and crunchy works well.