Apple Crumble Cake

I did this for lunch today and wasn't sure how it would turn out but it was a great success, everybody loved it including I hope my sister in law who has just taken the last bit for her boyfriend and herself for tea.  This is such an easy cake and the result is delicious and you will find that surprisingly it is not especially sweet either.  Serve it with custard, cream or ice cream

APPLE CRUMBLE CAKE

 

FILLING

• 1kg Bramley cooking apples (four large ones)
• 1 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of dried cloves
• 75g light brown sugar
• 25g butter, diced
• 2 tbsp water

SHORTCAKE MIX

• 225g self raising flour
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 125g butter, chilled and diced
• 1 egg, beaten

Butter an 8" loose bottomed or spring tin
Peel, core and roughly dice the apples and place in a saucepan with the rest of the filling ingredients
Cover and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, till you have a thick jammy consistency with a few lumps of apple in it (this took me 35 minutes)

Preheat your oven to 375F/190C/Gas 5
Place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and blend to a crumb like texture
Add the egg and very briefly pulse to moisten the crumbs
Scatter half of the mixture over the bottom of the tin
Pour over the hot apple mixture then top with the rest of the crumb mix

Bake for 25-40 minutes until it is an even golden colour
Remove from the oven, run a knife round the edge and leave to cool in the tin
Dust with icing sugar before serving if you like