Prep Time: 10 mins      Cook Time: +1 hour      Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

100g butter, melted

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, halved

2 tablespoons brown sugar

20g butter (extra), cubed

Maple syrup and ice cream, to serve

Cinnamon Crust

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 cup almond meal

80g butter, melted, plus extra for brushing

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup rolled oats

20g pecans, finely chopped

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. In a jug, whisk together eggs, milk, butter, vanilla and applesauce until combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, pour in wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a smooth, thick batter.

Pour batter into a square cake tin lined with baking paper. Press apples, cut-side down, into batter. Combine brown sugar and extra melted butter in a small bowl, brush on top of apples and bake for 40-45 mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. When done, remove from oven and leave to cool slightly.

Increase oven to 210C. To make crust, combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix butter and vanilla together, add to dry mixture and stir with a fork until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Sprinkle crumble mixture on top of cake, brush with extra butter and bake for an extra 15-20 mins until crust is golden. Remove from oven and cool for 5-10 mins. Serve warm with maple syrup and ice cream.

Notes

Just so the apples don’t take longer to cook, try par-cooking them. To do this, either boil the apples for 5-7 mins or microwave them for 3 mins.

Apples can discolour very quickly, so to prevent that, toss the prepared apples with lemon juice, or soak them in lots of cold water mixed with lemon juice.

For the cinnamon crust, the pecans can be replaced with other nuts, such as almonds or walnuts.

Best for…

Winter nights, dinner parties