We love this toffee apple crumble recipe made by Great British Bake Off contestant Liam Charles.
Talking about the recipe he said: "It is pretty evident I am obsessed with apple crumble. This cake has four layers of light brown sugar sponges, apple compote filling, and squiggles of salted caramel. And a few clusters of crumble, you know, for texture, as they say."
Preheat oven to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas 4 and grease and line the cake tins.
Step 2
For the cakes:
Cream your butter and both sugars together in a large bowl with a freestanding or hand-held mixer until light and fluffy.
Ingredients for this step
900gUnsalted butter (softened)
600gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
Step 3
Crack the eggs in one at a time, mixing after each addition.
Prevent Curdling
If the mixture begins to curdle, just pop in a couple of tablespoons of the flour to bring it back together.
Ingredients for this step
12Free range large eggs
Step 4
Turn the speed down very low and add your flour and baking powder.
Ingredients for this step
750gSelf Raising Flour
0.5 tspBaking powder
Step 5
Finally, add the milk and vanilla and give it one more blast.
Ingredients for this step
180mlWhole milk
Step 6
Divide your mixture evenly between the cake tins and bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10–15 minutes in the tins before turning out on to a wire rack.
Step 7
For the crumble:
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Tip your flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl and give it a good mix. Take the cubes of butter and begin to rub them into the flour. Your aim is to have a clustery crumble.
Step 8
Tip the crumble on to the baking tray and bake for 25–30 minutes, until deep golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Now take this opportunity to relieve some stress – SMASH IT!
Tip into an airtight container ready for later.
Step 9
For the buttercream:
Measure your butter into a large bowl and beat with your free-standing or hand-held mixer until light and pale.
Step 10
Sift your icing sugar and cinnamon into a separate bowl, then add it to the butter in 3 stages, beating after each addition.
Step 11
Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Add your milk and vanilla to loosen the buttercream and give it one more mix.
Step 12
Assemble:
Use a cake leveller or sharp knife to trim the top off all the cakes so they are level.
Step 13
Spread a small amount of buttercream on a board that is slightly bigger than your sponges and place your first layer of sponge on top. Place that board on a turntable, if you have one.
Step 14
Place half the buttercream in a piping bag, snip the end and pipe a circle around the edge of the first layer of sponge, leaving a 10cm circle in the middle.
Step 15
Fill that circle with apple sauce and sprinkle with crumble. Spoon the caramel into a piping bag and cut the tip off, then squiggle the salted caramel on top.
Step 16
Repeat until all the sponges are stacked. Your last sponge should be placed upside down on top.
Step 17
For the crumb coat:
Using a palette knife, cake scraper and a turntable, coat the outside and top of the cake with a thin layer of the remaining buttercream. Place in the fridge for at least an hour to set.
Step 18
Finale:
Remove the cake from the fridge and apply another layer of buttercream around the sides and top of the cake.
Step 19
Use any leftover buttercream to pipe around the top edges of your cake. Finally, place apple crisps on top with more crumble and – YES – MORE CARAMEL!
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For the Sponge
750gUnsalted butter (softened)
600gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
150gBillington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
12Free range large eggs
750gSelf Raising Flour
0.5 tspBaking powder
180mlWhole milk
0.5 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
For the Crumble
225gAllinson's Plain White Flour
135gBillington's unrefined soft brown sugar
1 tspSea salt
150gUnsalted butter (cold & cubed)
For the Cinnamon Buttercream
900gUnsalted butter (softened)
1.95kgSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
2 tspGround cinnamon
180mlWhole milk
1.5 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
For the Filling & Topping
1 jarApple sauce
300mlSalted caramel
10Apple crisps (optional)
Utensils
Hand held mixer
4x 25 cm cake tins
Nutritional information per 305g serving
Energy 1536cal
Fat 81g
of which Saturates 50g
Carbohydrates 189g
of which Sugars 152g
Protein 11g
Salt 0.97g
2 Baker Ratings
One heck of a lot of buttercream. Had enough to cover a second cake with half the ingredients! Definitely not complaining though!
Love this?
I like Nielsen Massey as well.Made a similar apple cake and it is delicious.
