I have been meaning to do this post for a little while but I was a bit over-run with seeing my two little munchkin nephews.  They are adorable little troublemakers!

                

My mum is a huge lover of apple-desserts so I thought I would go ahead and make this for her.  The recipe is from a special YOU Magazine extra full of Mary Berry recipes, so I thought I would give it a go!  You can also find this recipe online if you search the recipe name (here it is on the Sainsbury’s website).

Recipe

225g/8oz butter (room temperature) plus extra for greasing

550g/1¼ lb cooking apples (such as Bramley)

Juice of ½ lemon

225g/8oz light muscovado sugar

300g/10oz self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

1 tbsp milk (full-fat or semi-skimmed)

icing sugar, to dust

• As my older sister, Farah was here I thought I would get her to help a little bit by asking her to start by greasing the tin with a little butter and to then line it with some greaseproof paper.  After greasing the tin a little too much, I think she finally got there – doesn’t it look pretty.

(She told me I had to show a picture of her beautiful lining of the tin otherwise she would beat me up.)

• I started by coring the apples and chopping them into quarters and then slicing them finely.  I then added them to a tub and added the lemon and made sure all the slices were covered.

(You may have noticed that I didn’t peel the apples first – I did actually forget to do this step, but in my defence I was distracted by small children running around everywhere…ahem.)

• I added the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, ½ a teaspoon of the cinnamon, the eggs and milk into a bowl and then whisked until all the ingredients were incorporated and the mixture was smooth.

• At this point, I preheated the oven to 160°C (as stated in the recipe for fan ovens).

• I spooned half of the mixture into the tin and using a spatula, I made sure to spread the mixture evenly.  I then added half of the apple slices on top and then sprinkled over the remaining ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.

• I then added the rest of the mixture to the tin, and very carefully levelled it out without disturbing the apples underneath.  Finally I added the other half of the apple slices on top and made sure to gently press them into the surface.

• I put the tray into the heated oven and cooked it for about 25 – 35 minutes, or until it turns golden brown and the cake is firm but spongy to touch and the apples are soft.  And as a last minute touch, I sprinkled some brown demerara sugar over the top, concentrating over the apple slices and put it back in the oven to caramelise a little.

•  I left it in the tin for about 20 minutes until the cake had cooled down enough for me to take it out of the tin and place on a cooling rack.

This was a wonderfully easy and delicious recipe to make (compared to my usual recipes anyway) and it went down well with my family.  It was only until I had cut the traybake into squares to serve, that Farah pointed out I hadn’t peeled the apples… OOPS!  By the time we got to the dessert it had completely cooled down, so we warmed them a little in the microwave and served them with some Madagascan vanilla custard, ice cream or a little double cream depending on preference.

Have you ever tried some to bake any Mary Berry desserts, and if so, which ones have you tried?  Don’t forget to comment below!

Until next time! x