recipe

Lemon Sponge Traybake

Lemon Sponge Traybake

Looking for perfection in a cake is, I feel, missing the point. I got really cross with The Great British Bake Off some years ago. I was just so annoyed at the emphasis on 'sheer perfection'.

I thought it'd put people off having a go. At trying the craft of baking, maybe for the first time, because they thought they couldn't get it perfect.

Baking is, and has always been, something I do for joy. To relax and stop my head from whirling. It saved me during those dark days and months after my son was born and it allows me to show my feelings when I bake for someone.

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How To Make a Sticky Apple Traybake

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sticky-apple-traybake.jpg

It has been a wonderful summer but I do love the slide into autumn. As I type this the rain is lashing against the windows, the wind has started to pick up and the temperature has dropped significantly. It's certainly a change from the hot weather of recent weeks. There is something so special about autumn. The gradual change in the colour of the leaves, some incredibly fiery and vibrant, before falling to earth. The grass becoming lush once more after a parched hot summer. And the tree harvest. The blossom we saw in spring is now wonderful, tasty fruit. Enabling us to make jams, cakes, sauces and drinks. Stocking up for those winter months ahead.

One of my favourite bakes at this time of the year is apple cake. I'm not fussed if it's made with cooking or eating apples, I just love the dark sponge, flavoured with cinnamon, against the dampness of the apples.

How to make a sticky apple traybake.

You'll need a 24cm square/5cm deep baking tray, greased and lined

Ingredients

  • 225g butter or margarine
  • 225g soft brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 3 eggs
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 medium apples, peeled & sliced into a bowl of salted water (the salt stops them going brown)
  • A little more brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Method

  1. Pre-heat a fan oven to 140 degrees.
  2. Place all the ingredients, except the apples, into a bowl.
  3. Mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.
  4. Place half the mixture into the baking tray and spread to the sides.
  5. Take the apples out the bowl and dry with kitchen towel.
  6. Place the slices on top of the mixture.
  7. Take the remaining mixture and spread out on top of the apples.
  8. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
  9. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour.
  10. For the last fifteen minutes cover the cake with foil.
  11. Remove from the oven. Test if it is done with a skewer.
  12. Serve warm or cold.
sticky apple traybake
sticky apple traybake

For pinterest:

how to make a sticky apple traybake