A soft, warmly spiced sponge with buttery, caramel coated apples on top. After flipping the baked cake upside down, the caramel sauce soaks down into the sponge to give it an incredible flavour with every bite. I love this dessert because not only is it (surprisingly) quick and very easy to make, it's beautiful and requires absolutely no decoration. Serve with vanilla ice-cream or custard.
Time to prepare : 20 minutes
Time to bake : 40 minutes
Serves : 8
Ingredients
Caramel apple topping
90g butter
100g light brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence or extract
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 apples*
Sponge
180g plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
110g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
100g light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
90ml milk
Method
Grease a 9" cake tin* and line the base with greaseproof paper and pre-heat a fan oven to 180ºC.
Peel, core and slice the apples into ½cm wedges. Arrange the apple slices in the base of the cake tin in a single layer creating a circular pattern.
To make the caramel, melt the butter and the brown sugar in a saucepan over a medium - high heat. Once melted together, keep stirring the mixture with a spatula for 1 - 2 minutes until it begins to simmer and foam, the caramel should start to thicken. Remove from the heat, add in the vanilla and cinnamon and stir to mix. Pour this over the arranged apple slices, then chill in the fridge whilst you prepare the sponge.
In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir to mix.
In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter by hand or with a hand-held electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add in both the white and brown sugar and mix again until combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and use a spatula to fold the batter together until only a few flour streaks remain, then add in the milk and continue to fold until just combined.
Remove the cake tin with the caramel and apples from the fridge. Pour over the batter and smooth out the top with the back of the spatula.
Bake for 40 - 45 minutes. Loosely cover the cake tin with aluminium foil after 15 - 20 minutes once the sponge is golden brown. This will allow it to continue baking without catching too much colour.
Remove from the oven, it's ready when a clean skewer comes out clean (with no wet batter streaks) when inserted into the middle of the sponge. Allow it to cool in the tin for 20 minutes.
Run a knife around the outside of the tin and then cover the top of the cake tin with a serving plate. Flip the cake tin upside down with the plate, the cake should easily fall onto the plate. Remove the cake tin and greaseproof sheet and allow the cake to cool for another 10 - 20 minutes at room temperature before slicing.
Serve slices with ice-cream or custard.
Nutritional Information
(per serve)
442 calories
22g fat, 58g carbs, 5g protein
Good to know/alternatives:
To make this gluten-free, use GF flour.
You can use any apples for this, I prefer granny smith apples.
I use whole milk for a richer sponge and softer crumb but any milk or dairy-free alternative works.
You can use a 9" pie dish or cake tin, make sure that it's at least 2" deep to allow enough room for the sponge to rise. If you're using a loose bottomed tin (commonly used with cheesecakes etc.), make sure the collar is fitted snuggly on and bake on a flat baking sheet to catch any caramel that might seep out in the oven.
Store baked slices at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freeze slices in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature for 3 - 4 hours.