You can make this Tray Bake Apple Pudding with pantry ingredients and a couple of apples. Stir together and it straight from the oven. Yum!!!
Farmers market Apples
The best way to know what is in season is to pay a visit to your local farmer’s market. The fluorescent lights of the supermarket can often lull us into believing things are in season all year round. They aren’t, check-in at the local markets. That’s where you’ll find all the goodies growing in a reasonable radius of your city and that’s where I was last weekend when I dreamt up this treat.
Inspired by a farmer
I got talking to a really nice guy on the Hillview Fine Foods stall at Marrickville market after I noticed a box of semi-dried plums on the counter. I love this kind of thing with cheeses and baking, and I wondered who bothers to semi-dry their own plums these days? It seems that Jason from Hillview Fine Foods can bother to do lots of things.
Jason’s a guy that grew up on a farm in the Bylong Valley but couldn’t wait to get to the big smoke, moving to Sydney after high school. He clearly has an entrepreneurial spirit because he quickly found his way in Sydney and started a business that eventually stretched nationally before a very unfortunate turn of events caused him to reassess what he needed to do to pick up and keep going.
The decision
Visiting his parents’ farm during his stressful corporate career became a highlight of his downtime. It’s funny how the past sometimes just becomes your future, it seeps back in, and there you are…..looking for a Farm to buy.
In 2011 he found Hillview in Batlow. It already had 3500 apple trees, and after being on the market for some years was seemingly just waiting for him. His parents bought a neighbouring farm that had chestnuts, hazelnuts, and walnuts growing. They added fruit and vegetables and before long, all this produce found a home at markets.
He has managed to include his parents and surrounding local farms in his expanding business. They cover many markets in Sydney and on the outskirts and the business continues to expand into home delivery and wholesale.
Easy Apple Pudding
I am sure you are the same, markets are an exciting place for a cook and it is so tempting to buy everything you see. I bought a lot of apples because they looked so good and rather than let them get soft in the fruit bowl, I made this tray-bake apple pudding
A traybake means easy no-fuss baking and this recipe is just like that. It can be made with other fruits too because it is a simple and adaptable recipe.
What do you need for this traybake?
- The Fruit: Apples are great in this traybake. Use pretty much any apple you have to hand. You could also use pears or plums and firm peaches. You could use a mix of apple and strawberry or raspberry but take care using berries or very water filled fruits alone. These will play around with the fluffy cake texture. Use a ratio of 2 parts firm fruit to 1 part softer fruit.
- Eggs: I use free-range eggs. The without shell weight of my eggs is around 50 gm/ 1.76 oz
- Sugar: caster or granulated sugar is used in the recipe. If you only had brown sugar or golden caster sugar then go ahead and use that too.
- All purpose self raising flour: I have used self raising all purpose flour in this recipe. If you don’t have self rasing flour don’t worry! Self raising flour is plain flour with a heaped teaspoon of baking powder per cup. Here that would be 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. I haven’t tried this recipe using a gluten free alternative. If you do, let me know how it goes. My only suggestion would be a combination of gluten free and almond meal (flour). Gluten free flour alone will not be enough to stand up to the water in the fruit
- Butter: melted butter gives the pudding its soft mouthfeel and helps with colour and texture. Add the butter when warm. make sure it is not too hot and equally don’t let it firm up once melted or it will be too hard to stir through
- Spices: I have added cinnamon to my pudding but you could also add nutmeg, mixed spice, allspice or ground cardamom. It’s up to you!
Dad conducting tastings of all the fruit
Eat this straight from the oven
The best thing of all is that the tray bake apple pudding should be eaten straight from the oven HOT. No waiting and no decorating icing or slicing. Just dig in.
If you need to keep it, rewarm in the microwave, because it will start to crumble when cold due to all of those chopped apples. It tastes a little bit like apple pie to me. AND I LUVVV apple pie. We served it with whipped cream but you could go for ice cream in vanilla or even caramel flavour.
What to serve with Tray bake apple pudding
Oh I am so glad you asked.
Serve this pudding with ice cream. Vanilla is good but it is extra good with caramel ice cream too. Whipped cream or creme fraiche is also nice with this warm pudding.
If you liked this you might also like>
Apple Caramel Pudding, self saucing 
Tray Bake Apple Pudding
Ingredients
- 400 gm apples, peeled diced 3 cups or 2 to 3 apples | 14.10oz
- 100 gm caster sugar 1/2 cup | 3.52 oz or brown sugar
- 245 gm Self Raising Flour 1 3/4 cups | 8.64 oz
- 125 gm butter, 4.40 oz | melted
- 1 whole egg beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 100 gm caster sugar 1/2 cup | 3.52 oz, raw or hail sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C /360 F. Line and grease a 25 x 18 cm ( 7x 10 in) brownie tray or well greased pyrex dish. Measurements are in Australian cup sizes. Egg is 50 gm / 1.76 oz without shell
- Mix the flour with the sugar then add the apples and fold together with hands or a spoon
- Melt the butter and set it aside for several minutes. It should be warm but not hot when added.
- Mix the egg and the vanilla together then pour the egg, melted butter into the apple mixture, and stir with a spoon until well combined and the egg and butter is mixed evenly throughout.
- Spoon into the tray and smooth over
- Mix the cinnamon and sugar then sprinkle over the top of the prepared tray .
- Bake for 35- 40 minutes or until firm to touch.
- EAT straight away…..Yes you are allowed!
Notes
- This recipe uses self raising flour. If you do not have self raising flour don’t worry. Use plain flour use 1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour. here you will need 1 1/2 teaspoons.
- You can use apples, pears, plums or other similar firm fruits. If using very soft fruit like berries use 2 parts firm fruit to 1 part softer fruits or the pudding cake will be too wet and dense to rise.
- Use whatever spices you like. if cinnamon is not your thing add, mixed spice, allspice, nutmeg or cardamom. Spices could also be added to the flour instead of on the top.
- Sugar sprinkled on top adds texture. you can use raw sugar or coconut sugar or any other sugar you like. The sugar on top can also be omitted if you would like to lessen the sugar content. The amount in the recipe is also only a suggested amount. The recipe will work just fine without the sugar sprinkled on top
- When melting the butter be aware that extra hot butter straight from the microwave could cook the egg. Conversely, if the butter has sat long enough to set to partially solid it will be difficult to stir in evenly. The butter needs to be warmbutter temperature
- Lastly. If you want to leave the skin on the fruit you can. This may leave a bit too much texture in the pudding with some fruits. Some apples Pears don’t seem to have a skin problem but some apples and plums do.
https://www.facebook.com/HillviewFineFoods Find them on Face book.
MKS has no affiliation with Hillview Fine Foods but they are awesome, go find them.
That fresh produce! So colourful and vibrant. Love supporting growers, rather than the big supermarket bullies. And this dessert looks perfect or Sydney’s cooling weather. Delish.
Yes it makes you happy to be able to support the little guy doesn’t it?
i love apple pie too, but this is easier and probably even more delicious! great bake. 🙂
Thanks Grace and thanks for visiting
Yum. Love the simplicity of this dessert – and if you eat it straight out of the tray there’s less washing up too!
Yes ditch the dishes!
Easy to prepare and the result is great! Love this kind of recipes.
Thanks Angie. It is rustically simple but very fresh
Beautiful story and looks like a beautiful pudding!
Hey thanks Maree. I am glad I met Jason.
I liked hearing about Hillview and this pudding looks utterly delicious!
Yeah its a nice story Kari
Apples already! We have an apple orchard, but the birds take all of ours every year – they seem to know when we are to beginning to think about netting and get in first.
Lovely recipe and I can’t wait to try it. Anything that is made in one container has my vote every time.
Ha thanks Amanda. I am not sure what they do to stop the birds but they seem to get a few apples.