Toffee apple and crumble: Four recipes for easy apple bakes

 James Rich’s apple and almond tart with cider brandy cream. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Beatrice Ferrante. Prop styling: Louie Waller.

Apple and almond tart with cider brandy cream (above)

Prep 1 hr 45 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 8

250g plain flour
50g icing sugar
25g finely ground hazelnuts
125g butter, cold and cut into small cubes
1 egg, beaten
½ tbsp whole milk

For the filling
100g butter
100g icing sugar
2 eggs, beaten
100g ground almonds
Zest of ½ lemon
4 crisp, sweet eating apples (eg Fiesta or Jazz), peeled, cored and thinly sliced into rounds
1 tbsp demerara sugar
For the cider brandy cream
150ml double cream
25g caster sugar
2 tbsp Somerset cider brandy or Calvados

To make the pastry, Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl, add the ground hazelnuts and butter, and rub them into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until you get a crumble-like mixture. Add the eggs and milk, and carefully work into with your hands until you have a dough . Be careful not to mix it too much – you don’t want to overwork the pastry. Lightly dust with flour the dough, cover and chill in the fridge for an hour.

To make the filling, cream together the butter and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly Gradually add the beaten eggs a little at a time, mixing well between each addition. Gently Fold in the almonds and lemon zest, then set aside.

To make the cider brandy cream, whisk the cream and sugar to soft peaks. Slowly add the cider brandy, whisking well in between each addition, then chill until ready to serve. To assemble and bake, take the pastry out of the fridge 30 minutes before you need it. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and grease a 23cm springform tart tin with butter.

Flour a smooth work surface. Roll out the pastry large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the tart tin. and put the pastry in the tin, pushing it into the edges with your thumbs. Prick the bottom with a fork, trim the edges off and , then pop in the freezer for 10 minutes before filling.

Remove the pastry from the freezer, Add the almond filling, arrange the apple rounds on top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven for an hour, or until the apples are golden brown and the centre is cooked. Leave to Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving to allow the frangipane to firm up, then serve warm with a dollop of the cider brandy cream.

Toffee apple cake

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 Like cake? Like toffee apples? Here’s James Rich’s toffee apple cake.

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Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 12

175g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
150g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs, beaten
100g ground almonds
50g sultanas
200g crisp eating apples (eg granny smith or Chivers Delight), peeled, cored and sliced

For the toffee sauce
200ml double cream
50g butter
175g light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp black treacle

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and grease and line the base of a 23cm round springform cake tin with butter and line with baking parchment. In an electric mixer,

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and smooth, and sift together the flour, spices and baking powder into a bowl.

Add the beaten eggs to the butter mixture a little at a time, mixing well in and adding a tablespoon of the flour mix as you go with each addition. Once all the flour has been added, mix in the ground almonds and sultanas until combined.

Stir three-quarters of the apples to the mixture and , stir in with a wooden spoon, then spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin. Arrange the remaining pieces of apple on top of the top of the cake in a circular pattern. Bake in the oven for one hour, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to Cool in the pan for five minutes, thenremove the springform ring and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the toffee sauce, Put the cream in a saucepan over a low heat to warm, add the butter and sugar and stir until dissolved and smooth. Add the syrup and treacle and stir until melted. Serve the cake with the hot toffee sauce and a hefty dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

Apple crumble muffins

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 An a-peeling combo:apple crumble muffins.

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Prep 20 min
Cook 25 min
Makes 8

For the muffins
150g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch salt
1 sweet, juicy eating apple (eg cox’s), cored and grated
120ml whole milk
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp vegetable oil

For the crumble
50g rolled oats
40g butter, at room temperature
½ tsp ground cinnamon
25g demerara sugar

Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5 and grease an eight-hole muffin tin with butter or oil, or line the tin with paper muffin cases. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices andpinch of salt in alarge mixing bowl, then add the grated apple.

Combine the milk, beaten egg and vegetable oil, and gradually add to the bowl, mixing all the time. Once everything is combined, spoon equally into the prepared tins or cases.

In another bowl, mix the oats for the crumble with the soft butter, cinnamon and sugar together until well combined. Top each muffin with a spoonful of the crumble mix.

Bake the muffins in the oven for 25 minutes until brown and crunchy on top, then leave to cool on a wire rack. They will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

Autumn fruit pavlova with apple and vanilla cream

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 James Rich’s pavlova with apple and vanilla cream.

Prep 35 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 12

For the apple and vanilla cream
1 large cooking apple (eg bramley), peeled, cored and chopped
4 tbsp caster sugar
½ vanilla pod, split in half lengthways and seeds removed
400ml double cream
Zest of ½ lime

For the meringue
6 egg whites
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
350g caster sugar

For the topping
Selection of autumn fruits: apples, blackberries, pears, plums
Juice of ½ lemon

To serve
Mint, finely sliced
Zest of 1 lime

To make the apple and vanilla cream, Heat the apple, half of the sugar and two tablespoons of water in a pan over a medium heat. Stir until the apple begins to break down, then simmer for five minutes, until you have a smooth apple sauce.

Stir in the vanilla seeds and leave to fully cool. Whisk the cream and the remaining sugar in an electric mixer to stiff peaks, then mix in the lime zest. Once the apple sauce is fully cool, briefly stir through the cream to achieve a marbled effect.

Heat the oven to 140C (120C fan)/275F/gas 1 and cut three pieces of baking parchment to fit three baking sheets. Draw a 20cm circle clearly on each, piece of parchment, then turn the paper upside down on the baking sheet; you should still be able to see the circles.

Now make the meringue. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, For the meringue, beat the egg whites and vinegar on a medium-high speed for two minutes. Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until you have very stiff peaks. Using a spatula, Divide the meringue between the three circles and use the back of the spatula to spread the meringue into even discs that fill the circles..

Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, until firm, then turn the oven off, but leave the oven door ajar to cool and harden the meringues – about 90 minutes.

To assemble the pavlova, slice and Prepare the chosen fruit. Slice the apples with the skins on and soak in some cool water with the lemon juice for a few minutes so that they keep their colour. Drain, then add to the other fruit.

Just before serving, Put one meringue disc on a cake stand and spread a third of the apple cream on top. Add a third of the fruit, Top with the next meringue disc, spread a third of the cream and another third of the fruit. Finally repeat twice more, then garnish with mint and lime zest, then serve.

From Apple: Recipes form the Orchard, by James Rich (Hardie Grant, £20). To order a copy for £17.60