Sluttishly Sweet: Toffee Apple Pudding

If you love toffee apples but (a) fear they'll break your teeth and (b) don't want the trouble of going to a dubious funfair to procure them, then this easy toffee apple pudding is for you. I've fiddled with an old Good Food magazine recipe for this recipe, mainly adding spices because who doesn't want a warming kick of cinnamon when it's cold outside?

Warning: it will look a right mess before you pop it in the oven - pouring boiling liquid over it will do that to a dish - but it will come out with a floaty light cake on top with beautiful thick sauce underneath, perfect comfort food to curl up with. Minimum effort for maximum returns - what are you waiting for?*

* yes, yes - to get home, I know you can't whip this up from the office.

Toffee Apple Pudding
You will need:

• 2-3 apples, peeled and sliced to approx. 1cm thick (any eating apples are fine; I went for Granny Smith)
• 125g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 90g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 75g butter, melted and left to cool
• 1 egg, beaten
• 175ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:

• 100g brown sugar
• 30ml maple syrup (or golden syrup, whichever you prefer)
• 225ml boiling water
• 30g chopped pecans (optional, cos they cost a fortune)

Make it!

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Find a medium-sized glass or ceramic baking dish and thickly layer the apples along the bottom of it.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the butter, egg, milk and vanilla extract, then mix together to form a batter. 
3. Leave it to thicken slightly for 20 minutes, then pour it evenly over the apples, smoothing down the top.
4. Now for the fun/ridiculous part. Put the brown sugar and maple syrup into a bowl and top with the boiling water. Stir quickly so the sugar dissolves, then tip the whole lot over the apple batter before sprinkling over the pecans. "Is it...meant to look like that?", your housemate will ask, nervously. "YES, IT IS," you must reply with conviction as you pop it in the oven.
5. Bake for 40 minutes until it's golden-brown and well-risen. Flip it over as you spoon it out, so the cake it on the bottom, and eat it hot with custard or ice-cream. You can eat it cold but it reheats well (the sauce is better when it's warm and sticky too).