Seasonal local food recipe No.339 – Sticky toffee apple pudding with calvados caramel sauce
My husband made this delicious cake recently – it is definitely one to repeat! It’s from James Martin at BBC Food.
Serves 6-8
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30-60 minutes
Ingredients
For the pudding
140 g butter, softened at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
300 g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
50 ml water
75 g caster sugar
2 Tbsp calvados
175 g light soft brown sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
3 Tbsp golden syrup
2 free-range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200 g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 Cox’s Orange Pippin apple, cored and finely sliced
For the sauce
110 g dark soft brown sugar
110 g butter
2 Tbsp calvados
175 ml double cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Grease and flour a 23 cm(9in) spring-form tin. Melt 25 g of the butter in a saucepan and add the apples, water and caster sugar. Cook over a gentle heat until steam appears from the saucepan, then cover with a lid and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until thick and fluffy. Remove the lid and beat the mixture to remove any lumps. Add the calvados and beat until well combined.
Beat 90 g of the butter and the soft brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the golden syrup, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Fold the self-raising flour into the cake mixture. Meanwhile, add the bicarbonate of soda to the apple puree and mix well, then stir this quickly into the cake mixture. Pour into the cake tin and gently tap the sides of the tin to evenly disperse the mixture. Bake for about 40-45 minutes in total.
While the cake is baking, melt the remaining 25 g of butter in a saucepan. After the cake has been been in the oven for 30 minutes, arrange the sliced apple over the top of the cake in a circle, and brush with the melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the cake and return to the oven. Once the cake is cooled, allow to cool slightly before turning out.
For the calvados caramel sauce, place the sugar and butter into a small pan and cook until melted and well combined. Pour in the double cream and calvados. Simmer gently for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly.
To serve, cut the cake into slices and put a spoonful of ice-cream on top. Finish by drizzling over some of the sauce.
