I live in the home of the sticky toffee pudding and I love apples so to me it was an obvious choice. I also love caramelised nut spears and use them often on top of cakes as they look stunning but in these case the little apple balls add a note of freshness to the otherwise decadent dessert.
This recipe has borrowed elements from a sticky toffee recipe of Delia Smith.
Ingredients (serves 8)
- 75g soft butter
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 175g self-raising flour
- 1 large cooking apple peeled, cored and roughly chopped
- 150ml hot water
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the sauce
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 drop of concentrated red gel food colour
- 100g butter
- 6 tbsp double cream
For the toffee apples
- 1 eating apple
- 100g caster sugar
- 100g liquid glucose
- 2 drops of concentrated red gel food colour
To serve
- A few toasted almond flakes
Method
Start by putting 25g of the sugar in a large frying pan with the chopped apple. Stir it and leave it to cook on high heat to caramelise. Turn the heat off.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with the remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add one egg and beat again for a couple of minutes. Add the second egg and repeat.
Sift the flour into the butter mix and gently fold it in.
Preheat the oven to 1800C.
Dissolve the soda into a cup with the 150ml of hot water, add to the pan with the apple pieces, stir and empty into the cake mixture. Using a spatula incorporate everything. The mixture is runnier than for other cakes but it is perfectly normal. Share the batter amongst 8 ramekins which you have lightly greased with some light oil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Leave to cool for a few minutes, run a knife around the ramekins and turn upside down onto a dish.
To make the sauce, put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low heat. Stir until everything is fully incorporated and the sauce is tick and glossy.
Finally, to make the toffee apple spears, peel an apple and using a melon baller make a few balls. Put the sugar, glucose, a couple of tbsp of water and the colour into a saucepan and heat to a caramel. Use wooden sticks to dip each apple ball into the caramel and place under a heavy chopping board placed on the edge of your work top. Protect the floor immediately under where the caramel will be dripping.
Serve in bowls with the warm apple toffee sauce, double cream and the toffee apple balls.