Preheat oven to 160°C / 140°C fan / gas mark 3. Grease and line a 15x10cm loaf tin. Next soak 12 of the dates in boiling water to soften, set aside. Then peel 6 of the apples, remove core and chop into quarters. Steam the apples until just soft (using a steamer or simply by placing in a colander over a pan of boiling water).

Drain the dates and put into a high-speed blender or food processor with the hot steamed apple and the butter. Blend until beautifully smooth. This is your apple butter (if you don't want to make apple butter for spreading, simply halve the apple butter ingredients to 6 dates, 3 apples and 100g butter).

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the 2 eggs, then whisk in half of the cooled apple butter mixture (or all of it if only making half the quantity). Put some into a little pot and place into the fridge ready to spread on a slice of this loaf cake as soon as it’s ready, then put the rest of the apple butter into an ice cube tray and store in the freezer until you fancy some.

Remove the core from the other two apples, then dice into 1cm cubes, leaving the skin on. Add the diced apple to the bowl. Finely chop the remaining 6 dates and add to the bowl, then stir well.

Weigh out the flour and stir in the ginger and cinnamon, then sieve into the mixing bowl. Lightly fold the flour into the mixture with a metal spoon, ensuring you don’t over stir the mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and gently smooth the top over. You can add a few very thin slices of apple to the top if you fancy.

Pop it in the oven for about an hour until golden. Stick a knife in the centre to check if it is cooked through – it should come out clean.

Serve a slice spread with some delicious apple butter. Also, delicious with regular butter or nut butter, or simply as it is. A tasty snack that's ideal when out and about. If at home it's particularly tasty if gently warmed in a warm oven or under the grill for a few minutes and spread with apple butter. Keeps for up to 3 days in an airtight container. You can freeze half the loaf, or freeze it in slices - easy to take out whenever your children want a quick snack - a slice takes less than an hour to defrost (defrost fully before eating).