More than one way to eat an apple!
This autumn I’ve been watching as the simple pleasure of an apple is enjoyed across the family.
Most eating apples reach their prime ripeness for picking across the UK in October – just in time to become part of some great autumn traditions, from making hearty puddings or homemade cider, to apple bobbing or giving out as treats at Halloween.
This year the trees in my mum and dad’s garden have given a bumper harvest of apples. It means there have been plenty to share around the family, and we have needed to come up with different ways to eat them to use up the supplies.
As a gift to you, just in time for National Apple Day, I’m sharing a delicious recipe for a hearty apple sponge pudding, created by Sheelagh Finlay.
Recipe
Note: before we begin, Sheelagh would like to point out that this is a partly improvised recipe as she only had 2 eggs in the fridge on the day she made it! So don’t be too exact, and follow your instincts to make it your own.
Ingredients
(to serve approximately four people)
400-500 grams of apples
Sugar for the apples (we used moderately sweet apples, so needed around 2 table spoons of sugar; the more sour your apples, the more sugar you'll need)
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Sprinkling of cinnamon
2 large eggs (you need to weigh these to determine the amount of the following ingredients)
Margarine (same weight as the 2 eggs)
Caster sugar (same weight as the 2 eggs)
Self-raising flour, sifted (same weight as the 2 eggs)
Method
For the apples:
Peel all of the apples, remove the cores, and chop them roughly into eighths.
Add the chopped apples to a medium sized pan with a table spoon of water, and cook gently with the sugar that you set aside for the apples (see ingredients above, as this varies depending on the apples you’re using). Cook on a medium heat, for around 10 minutes; the idea is to stew the apples gently until the sugar melts over them.
For the sponge:
In a mixing bowl, beat the margarine and caster sugar together until smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs, beating those in.
Mix in a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Add the sifted flour and mix in with a spoon.
To bake:
Preheat your oven (fan: 160 degrees; normal: 180 degrees).
Add the gently stewed apples to the bottom of a medium sized oven dish (with high enough sides for the cake to rise).
Spoon the sponge mixture over the top, to cover the apples, and then sprinkle the cinnamon over the top (this is to get a crispy top once it’s baked).
Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. After this use a skewer to press into the sponge; if it comes out clean it’s cooked, if it comes out with cake batter on, put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Keep on checking like this until the skewer comes out clean. When it’s clean, it’s cooked!
Enjoy the pudding with custard!
