Eve's Pudding with Caramel and Hazelnuts

Eve's Pudding - the clue is in the name - is a light, sponge pudding with an apple base.  I used an old Good Housekeeping recipe, and tweaked it to include hazelnuts and caramel for a bit of a deeper taste.   What didn't get eaten immediately reheated very well in the microwave the next day, so that's a real plus!  

I was recently honoured to be invited to speak to one of my local WI branches about puddings and blogging.  After my talk, there was a fun time tasting the puddings the members had brought in, and chatting about recipes and methods.  We spent some time talking about how to use up left over apples that have been stored since the autumn, but which we couldn't bear to throw away.  I'm glad I wasn't alone!  

Eve's Pudding 

Eve’s Pudding

1lb/450g cooking apples, peeled and cored

Grated rind of 1 lemon (omit if you are doing the caramel version)

3oz/75g Demerara sugar

5oz/150g self raising flour

3oz/75g butter, softened

1.5oz/40g soft brown sugar

1.5oz/40g Vahiné liquid caramel (or simply double the soft brown sugar)  

1 egg, beaten

Some milk to mix

Handful of flaked almonds or blanched hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C, then peel, core and cut the apples into slices.   Grease an ovenproof dish with a capacity of about 1½  pints.   Now add the apples, lemon (if using) and the first quantity of Demerara sugar.

In a food processor/Kenwood, blend the flour, butter, sugar and egg, plus liquid caramel, and beat until well mixed.  If the mixture is stiff and won’t drop off the spoon, add some milk – I used about 3 tbsps in the end. 

Pour the sponge mix over the apples, sprinkle on the hazelnuts or almonds and bake for 40 minutes or so until golden brown.  

Mine is photographed without the dusting of icing sugar!