Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 125g butter
- 350g Bramley apples
- 350g Cox’s apples
- 2 tbsp sugar
- A little grated lemon zest, to taste
- 6–8 slices white bread, about 5mm thick, crusts removed
- Custard, clotted cream or ice cream, to serve
Method:
- Grease a pudding basin, about 15cm in diameter and 10cm deep, with plenty of the butter.
- Peel, core and finely slice the apples. Rinse in cold water and put them in a saucepan with the sugar, lemon zest and 30g of the butter. Cook to a pulp over a low heat and then beat to a purée with a wooden spoon.
- Allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C.
- Melt the remaining butter. Dip each slice of bread into the butter and then line a pudding basin with about three quarters of the slices. Pack them in tightly and don’t leave any gaps.
- Spoon in the cooled apple purée and cover with the remaining buttered pieces of bread and gently push down.
- Tightly cover the pudding with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 8–10 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Leave the pudding to rest for 5 minutes before turning out on to a serving plate.
- Serve with custard, clotted cream or ice cream.
Rick’s Smart tip:
I love the clean taste of apple and lemon in this, as cooked by my mum, but you could add a good pinch of ground cloves or some ground cinnamon if you like.
This recipe is extracted from Rick Stein at Home by Rick Stein (BBC Books, $55). Photography by James Murphy.