My Granny's old recipe book dates back to the 1930's and has all her recipes handwritten in to it. This recipe for 'Apple Batter Pudding' is one of them.
The apple slices are sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon & brown sugar ..... 
The batter is poured over the apple slices and topped with more cinnamon & brown sugar 
The finished pudding, hot out of the oven. All it needs now is some custard ! The days are getting shorter – and cooler – as our African Winter season approaches. I just love Winter, it is my favourite season of the year (I know, for an African that’s quite weird – I’ll take cold, rainy, misty days over hot, sunshine-y days anytime !) Anyway, cold, shorter days cry out for hot, comfort food in my book … and a warm sponge pudding is no exception !
Here is one which I adapted from a handwritten recipe book which used to belong to my grandmother … it dates back to the 1930’s and is very precious to me. I often find that recipes dating back to this period are quite bland (little sugar, no salt, no vanilla extract for flavouring etc) – is this because our palates have been ‘ruined’ over time with excessive seasonings, flavourings and colourings, I wonder ? I also find that the recipe quantities are quite small … like the recipe below which should serve 6 to 8 but by today’s standards it would serve 4 to 5 comfortably. This is no doubt due to the large portion sizes we’ve become accustomed to over the years – even dinner plates are getting larger !
I’ve added extra sugar to the batter recipe, as well as a cinnamon and brown sugar mix sprinkled over the apples and again over the top of the pudding before baking. If you need to convert this recipe into measurements which suit you, then you can do so by scrolling to the end of this page to the ‘Recipe Converter’.
I served this with hot custard (made with custard powder out of a tin *gasp* what would Granny say ?!) and it was a hit with the whole family -:
Apple Batter Pudding
2 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Sugar
1 Egg
1 cup Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ cup Milk
1 tin (+- 385 gm) of Apple slices, drained
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar for dusting
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and beat well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and add the milk. Mix to form a smooth batter. Place the apples into an oven proof dish and sprinkle with cinnamon & brown sugar. Spoon the batter over the top of these. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon & brown sugar over the top of the batter before baking at 180’C/350’F/Gas Mark 4 for 30 to 40 minutes until done. Serve hot with custard or cream.
