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Caramel is not my friend. I’m too impatient. I watch the pan for what feels like hours, and the sugar just stares up at me from the bottom of the pan in its original state. So I whack the heat up and before I know it the bottom has burnt while the top still hasn’t melted. So I throw it away and start again, and usually the second attempt works fine.
But the last time I made this cake it wouldn’t work (or so I thought). This cake is amazing, by the way. Ridiculously light sponge, soft, baked apple base and covered in toffee sauce. But back to the toffee sauce: I made one batch and burnt it horribly, so in the bin it went before I even got to the bit where I was supposed to add the cream. Then I made a second lot. I added the cream but the sauce looked not quite right. It wasn’t quite dark enough and it seemed slightly lumpy. So I poured it into a bowl and started again. On the third attempt I finally managed it and poured the sauce over the cake.
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Looking at my second attempt sitting sadly in the bowl, I decided to try a spoonful. Oh. My. God. It was amazing. Well, but what was I going to do with it? I looked at the sauce. I looked at the cake (you can see where this is going). I tipped the whole lot on the cake. It’s right up there at the top of my “best decisions I’ve ever made” list. And it never would have happened if I wasn’t rubbish at caramel! Embrace your weaknesses, people.
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I kept the sauce to the normal amount when I made it this time, but I have to admit I wished I’d doubled it, and that is how I will always make it from now on. Recipe below has the original, single quantities for the sauce but, in case you haven’t picked this up already, I RECOMMEND YOU DOUBLE IT. :)
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Apple cake with toffee sauce
From Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
3 apples (I used Pink Lady)
100g/3.5 oz/7 tbsp butter, at room temperature
200g/7 oz/1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
200g/7 oz/ 1 + 2/3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tsp baking powder
60ml/2 fl oz/ 1/4 cup milk
For the toffee sauce (double this if you love toffee sauce):
20g/ 3/4 oz/1.5 tbsp butter
115g/4 oz/ 1/2 cup caster (superfine) sugar
125ml/4.2 fl oz/ 1/2 cup double (heavy) cream
Preheat the oven to 170C (340F) fan oven/180C (355F) conventional oven. Grease and line the base of a 23cm (9 inch) round loose-based cake tin.
Peel the apples and cut them in half lengthways. Remove the core, then cut each half into 6 slices. Arrange these in the bottom of the cake tin in decreasing circles.
Using an electric handwhisk or wooden spoon, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift in the flour and baking powder and beat them in. Add the milk and mix well.
Scrape the batter into the cake tin. Make sure the top is smooth, then bake for 30-40 minutes (mine took 30 minutes in a 170C fan oven). The cake will be golden and shrinking away from the sides of the tin.
Let the cake cool in the tin while you make the sauce.
Put the butter and sugar in a medium pan and heat over a medium-low heat, stirring every so often. The sugar at the bottom will melt first. Give it a gentle, short stir when this happens. When the mixture has melted together and is a golden colour, remove from the heat and start adding the cream a drop at a time (it might spit, so be careful!), stirring after each addition, then begin adding the rest of the cream in a steady stream. Return to the heat and stir well until you have a smooth sauce.
Remove the cake from the tin and place on a plate, apple side down. Pour over the toffee sauce. Serve with ice cream.
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