Apple, Cinnamon and Maple Shortcake
I’ve always been envious of my mother’s innate ability to just wing this sort of thing. I know that if I was ever as cavalier while baking it would end up a complete disaster, yet her end result is always spot-on. Naturally, every time I ask her for anything resembling a precise recipe, she is infuriatingly vague. Being a chef, I daren’t improvise with baking so this is my take on what she does. I bet she’ll tell me it’s ‘passable’!
Ingredients
Method
- 2 large apples, cored and thinly sliced
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 250 g Pams butter
- ¾ cup Pams brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2½ cups Pams plain flour
- 2 tsp Pams baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
- Grease a shallow baking tin (approximately 35 x 25 cm) and line with baking paper.
- Combine the sliced apple, lemon zest and juice and maple syrup together.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla essence and beat in well.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and fold into the mixture until everything is combined.
- Press two-thirds of this mixture into the lined tin, then spread the apple mixture over the top, pouring any syrup over as well.
- Dot the remaining third of the mixture over the top, pop in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until risen and golden.
- Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into squares and devouring.