Sticky Toffee Apple pudding with Caramel Sauce

This recipe is based on James Martin's recipe from Saturday Kitchen but with a few tweeks!

It falls into 3 parts: Cake or Pudding, Caramel Sauce and Sharp apple sauce.

Ingredients (serves 6/8):

• 140gms of butter (softened)
• 300gms of sharp eating apples
• 50ml water
• 30gms caster sugar
• 175gms of dark brown sugar
• 3 tbsp of golden syrup
• 2 free range eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200gms self raising flour
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 apple for decoration - cored and sliced in thin wedges
• (optional 2 tbsp of calvados - I used brandy as I had no calvados!)

Caramel Sauce:

• 70gms of dark brown sugar
• 50gms of granulated sugar
• 120gms of butter
• 120gms of golden syrup
• 100ml of double cream or milk depending on thickness required
• few drops of vanilla extract
• 2 tsps of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Grease/flour 23cm spring-form tin. Melt 25g of the butter in a saucepan and add the apples, water and sugar. Cook over a gentle heat until steam appears from the saucepan, then cover with a lid and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until thick and fluffy. Remove the lid and beat the mixture to remove any lumps. Add the calvados and beat until well combined. Beat 90g of the butter and the soft brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the golden syrup, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Fold the self-raising flour into the cake mixture.

Meanwhile, add the bicarbonate of soda to the apple puree and mix well, then stir this quickly into the cake mixture. Pour into the cake tin and gently tap the sides of the tin to evenly disperse the mixture.

Melt the remaining 25g butter in a saucepan. Arrange the sliced apple over the top of the cake in a circle, and brush with the melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the cake. Place in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes, and allow to cool slightly before turning out.

For the calvados caramel sauce, place the sugar and butter into a small saucepan and cook until melted and well combined. Pour in the double cream and calvados. Simmer gently for three to five minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the lemon juice to the sauce. This makes the sauce a little less sweet but still rich.

To serve, cut the cake into slices and put a spoonful of ice cream on top. Finish by drizzling over some of the sauce and adding some sharp apple puree. (see note below)

Thermomix instructions:

I have only done the apples and the caramel sauce in the thermomix but will update when I have sussed out the cake mix!

Caramel Sauce - put the butter, sugars and syrup into the TM bowl and cook for 5 mins 80deg/speed 1.5. Add the milk and vanilla. Cook for 3 minutes 100deg/speed 2

If you want to cook the apples, core,peel and roughly chop apples. Put into TM bowl with the water and cook for 10mins/90deg/speed1/reverse blade. At this point you can either puree for the sauce (20 secs speed 8) or lightly chop for the cake 5 secs speed 4 - until you get approx 7mm pieces of apple etc.