fruity apple and pecan... slice?

I'm finally back with a baking post! Look, I baked.... things.

It was meant to be an apple and date nutty slice, but I had no dates so I subbed them for a mixture of dried raisins and cranberries, and I cut the apples so chunky that it didn't particularly "slice". Perhaps not the finest way to return to cake blogging, but it used up some wrinkly apples and annoying leftovers.

I was aware that the amount of apples vastly outnumbered the other ingredients but decided not to change it. After all it's an *apple* slice. Perhaps I should have cut my apple chunks smaller, but I was worried I'd end up with a watery, cooked apple gloop if I chopped them too small. I also think it's more satisfying to come across decent sized chunks, it adds texture, and this traybake certainly has texture - fresh fruit, dried fruit *and* chopped nuts surrounded by a cinnamon-y, dark brown sugar sponge mixture. It's all going on.

Not my most beautiful bake, but it tasted really good. If you doubled up the cake mixture and baked it in a bigger tin you'd have a fantastic autumnal pudding. Mmmm, pass the custard.