This tray bake is really easy to put together, great for sharing and a brilliant with a cup of tea. The base of this tray bake is a sponge flavoured with lemon zest. In this cake we are getting some of our ‘fat’ content from double cream so the method involves whisking the eggs with the sugar first. You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer, we don’t need to create volume because the raising agent here is chemical – self raising flour. However mixing until thick helps to dissolve the sugar leading to a softer crumb in the cake.
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The cake keeps best in an airtight container at room temperature and will last for 3-4 days and still maintain that wonderfully soft texture.
The toffee style topping adds a nice touch to the top and a contrast to the apple and cake. As always, toast those almonds before using – much nicer!
Makes 1 x 11inch rectangular tin (We used this one from PME)
Ingredients
4 medium eggs
245g caster sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
Pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter
130ml double cream
215g self-raising flour
40g ground almonds
1 large apple (I used Bramley), peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm chunks - you should be left with roughly 220g
5g cornflour
For the toffee almond glaze
40g flaked almonds
10g unsalted butter
40g dark brown sugar
80ml double cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4 and grease and line a 7 x 11 x 2 inch tin.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until thick - this can be done by hand, as there is no need to get lots of volume at this point. Mix in the lemon zest and salt.
Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan, and once melted remove from the heat and stir in the double cream.
Pour the double cream/butter mixture into the beaten eggs and sugar and whisk well. Add the self-raising flour and ground almonds, and mix until fully incorporated.
Put the cake chunks in a bowl and coat thoroughly with the cornflour until the white powder disappears, stir these through the cake batter
Pour the cake mix into the prepared tin. Bake for 35 minutes, or until when a skewer is inserted it comes out clean. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool
To make the toffee almond glaze, heat the flaked almonds and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring regularly. When the almonds have turned golden, add the sugar and stir well. Add the double cream and stir until it forms a glossy sauce. Allow this to bubble for one minute before removing from the heat and pouring over the still warm cake.
Allow the cake to cool before slicing
If you make this cake tag us on social media using #damsonjellyacademy or tag us in your stories @damsonjellyacademy. We LOVE to see it.
P.S. As it's summer here in the UK why not switch the apple for fresh raspberries instead? Just be gentle when stirring them through the cornflour!
