sticky spiked double-apple cake with a brown sugar brandy sauce

i bought regan daley's "in the sweet kitchen" after i saw it mentioned on j's gorgeous blog. it has been sitting around like a doorstop (although not literally being one--that honour goes to this one), until this weekend, when i had an unsated sugar craving and a bowlful of fruit ignoring me as much as i was ignoring it. half the book is a comprehensive reference tome, detailing the what, how, and why of baking, which should make for interesting reading on a commuter train (and, at 704 pages, and more than a couple of pounds, a decent weapon). i'm not being facetious when i say interesting because the other half with recipes definitely is--i was expecting to find rather austere and proper pastry, but instead found wholly adult yet gleefully decadent desserts as caramelized banana tart with a lime linzer crust and a warm caramel sauce, lemon anise churros, and candied ginger with white chocolate shortbread. while i am secretly looking forward to farrell's opening up again, sometimes i need something sweet that doesn't incorporate multicoloured sugar sprinkles and um, banjoes.

i picked daley's sticky spiked double-apple cake with a brown sugar brandy sauce, because i've always loved spicy, apple-y cakes and have always been disappointed by them, so i wanted to see if this cake, which uses nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and both dried and fresh tart apples, would pass muster. it did. it uses so much fruit that the batter barely clings to it, and the brandy-soaked raisins adds that extra touch that keeps the cake from seeming like the saddest thing in your lunchbox, or the "creative" bit o' fiber on your hospital bedtray. it is both tender and chewy, which seems improbable, but there you go. i also absolutely love that she recommends this boozy, sugary cake as a breakfast item and that it serves 10 to 12 people--or two, if you give them a couple of days. judging from how very little of it is left, she's right on the money.