Preheat and prepare your tin. Set your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) or 350°F. Grease a 900g (2lb) loaf tin thoroughly with butter or oil, then line it with a strip of parchment paper that hangs over the long sides — this acts as handles for lifting the baked loaf out.

Mix the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the plain flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. The mixture should look uniform in colour, with no streaks of spice or lumps of baking powder.

Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl or large jug, whisk the eggs until they are frothy and pale, about 30 seconds. Add the vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and emulsified — it should look like a single, creamy liquid with no separation.

Make the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a spatula or wooden spoon just until no streaks of flour remain. The batter will be thick and slightly lumpy, but that is fine — do not overmix, or the bread will be dense. Fold in the diced apples until they are evenly distributed. You should see chunks of apple throughout the thick batter.

Prepare the cinnamon swirl. In a small bowl, mix the light brown sugar and ground cinnamon together. The mixture should look like fine, sandy brown sugar.

Layer the batter and swirl. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared loaf tin and spread it into an even layer with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the batter. Spoon the remaining batter on top and gently spread it to cover the sugar layer — it does not need to be perfectly smooth. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the batter in a figure-eight pattern, creating ribbons of cinnamon sugar throughout. You will see dark brown streaks forming in the pale batter.

Bake the loaf. Place the tin on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs (not wet batter). The loaf should feel firm to the touch on top, and you will smell the warm cinnamon and baked apples filling your kitchen.

Cool in the tin. Remove the loaf from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack. Let it cool in the tin for 15 minutes. The loaf will shrink slightly from the sides of the tin as it cools. After 15 minutes, lift the loaf out using the parchment handles and transfer it directly onto the wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

Make the glaze. While the loaf cools, whisk together 120g icing sugar, 2 tablespoons whole milk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract in a small bowl. The glaze should be thick but pourable — it should coat the back of a spoon and slowly drizzle off. If it is too thick, add a drop more milk; if too thin, add a little more icing sugar.

Glaze and set. Once the loaf is completely cool (warm bread will absorb the glaze and make it disappear), place it on a serving plate or board. Drizzle the glaze over the top in a zigzag pattern, letting it drip down the sides naturally. Let the glaze set for at least 20 minutes before slicing. The glaze will become firm and slightly opaque, with a matte finish.