Cinnamon Apple Traybake
Thick squares of buttery cinnamon sponge under tender, glistening apple slices and a craggy, amber crust of toasted oats and almonds, dusted with icing sugar and served warm with custard pooling around the edges.
Ingredients
Serves 12- 2eggs
- 250 gplain flour
- 100 mlmilk
- 150 glight brown sugar
- 150 gunsalted butter, softened
- 2 tspbaking powder
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- 50 grolled oats
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- 50 gdemerara sugar
- 450 gapples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- ¼ tspground nutmeg
- 30 gflaked almonds (optional) (optional)
- 1pinch fine salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)/Gas 4 and line a 23 x 33cm traybake tin with baking paper, leaving a little overhang so you can lift the whole thing out cleanly later.
- Beat the softened butter and light brown sugar in a large bowl for a full 3–4 minutes until pale, fluffy and noticeably lighter in colour; this is where the sponge gets its lift, so don't shortcut it. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each, then stir in the vanilla.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of fine salt, and fold through gently, adding the milk in a steady stream until you have a smooth, glossy dropping batter that falls reluctantly off the spoon. The salt is small but important; it sharpens the brown sugar and stops the sponge tasting flat.
- Spread the batter into the prepared tin with a spatula, pushing it right into the corners and levelling the top.
- Toss the sliced apples with the cinnamon and nutmeg until every slice is dusted, then arrange them across the batter in a single overlapping layer like roof tiles. Sprinkle over the extra tablespoon of brown sugar.
- Stir the oats, demerara sugar and the flaked almonds if using together and scatter generously over the apples; leave it craggy and uneven, because the proud bits are what go amber and crunch.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the sponge is deeply golden, the streusel is crisp and amber, and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. The apples should be tender and starting to caramelise at the edges, the kitchen smelling of warm cinnamon and brown butter.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes so the sponge sets and the crumb firms up; cut too soon and it'll tear. Lift out using the paper overhang, transfer to a wire rack, cut into 12 generous squares, serve warm or at room temperature.
Per serving
- kcal
- 287
- protein
- 4.5g
- fibre
- 2.1g
- carbs
- 41.4g
- fat
- 12.1g
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