Sometimes, you just don't want to fuss, but you still want something a little sweet and homemade. At times like that, I sometimes make this simple cake. It combines two of my favorite foods, apple and crumble topping; the cake part is a simple mix-and pour affair; and it can be served warm, or at room temperature. And, the sweetness of it doesn't hit you in the face. The only mildly fiddly part is peeling and cutting up the apples. It's a perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee.
* 4 to 5 medium or small apples - about 4 cups worth of cut up apple, but you can do it with a bit more or less
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 1 'large' egg, beaten
* 1/3 cup melted butter, or a combination of melted butter and neutral-tasting oil such as safflour or canola
For the crumble mixture:
* 3/4 cup of raw cane sugar, muscovado sugar, or regular light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 Tbs. butter
* 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F.
Grease a standard square cake pan (20cm x 20cm x 5cm, or 8" x 8" x 2") with butter.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, and mix in the granulated sugar. Add the milk, beaten egg and melted butter or butter/oil combo; mix together just until there are no huge lumps. Pour into the pan.
Make the crumble mixture: melt the butter in a pan, add the flour, sugar and cinnamon, and mix well until it become crumble.
Peel, core and cut up the apples, and put on to of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with the crumble mixture.
Bake for about 40 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve warm plain or with whipped cream. You can nuke this to warm it up quite successfully. Also nice at room temperature, such as in a lunch box.
