Читать книгу The Vicar’s Wife’s Cook Book - Elisa Beynon - Страница 49

If the title of this dessert conjures up a picture of funfair toffee apples, I do apologise. Banish those thoughts of toothache-inducing candied fruit on sticks and instead think of sticky, caramel sweetness (oh dear, that’s all a bit confusingly redolent of Mackenzie parsnips). This pudding produced lively remembrances of crumbles from the past. My husband’s sister talked lovingly about her mother’s thick crumble toppings. ‘Goodness, you are just so toppist!’ exclaimed the brother-in-law ‘Fine,’ came the reply, ‘you can have my bottom and I’ll have your top.’ An interesting prospect …

1kg Cox’s apples, peeled, quartered and cored

juice of 1 lemon

8–10 tablespoons ready-made toffee sauce (this is almost a 220g jar)

225g plain flour

175g chilled butter, cut into small pieces

pinch of salt

50g porridge oats

150g demerara sugar

You will need a 2-litre ovenproof dish. I mistakenly used one with ridges on the bottom – don’t: all the lovely caramel sinks into the cracks and has to be scraped out laboriously.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Slice each apple quarter into 4, place in a bowl, stir in the toffee sauce and lemon juice and then spoon evenly over the base of the dish.

Now take out your food processor and throw in the flour, butter and salt and blitz until the butter is mixed in and the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats and sugar and work the mixture with your fingers a little until it starts to stick together in little clumps. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the apples. Cook in the oven for 40–45 minutes until golden and bubbling, and serve with cream or ice cream.