I often wonder if I should post all of my bakes.

After all, is it not the bakes, that drive the blog in the first place? Or is it the general interest in gluten free baking? There are an awful lot of bakes that do not make the blog, but if I put every bake up on the blog, I feel it would curtail the little creativity I have. I would spend too much time writing and then the blog would turn into a heavy weight around the neck. I’d probably not bother.

There is little rhyme or reason as to what bakes go on the blog, but from the outset I have tried to make the bakes on here uncomplicated and fairly easy to do. I would hope you would mention this? 😄

You will have noticed though recently, that I have had opportunities to push myself a little. It would appear to the uninitiated that I love baking for Halloween. I’ll admit it does bring a certain amount of fun to baking and it’s probably about time I got a little more creative. But should I have put everything on here? Not every baker has a blog or website and there are some very creative and fantastic bakes and bakers out there.

So now to something else, seasonal and warming, but perhaps more low-key and no less tasty by any means!

This bake would be perfect on a cold autumnal Sunday afternoon (which appear to be creeping up on us now 😞) with or without custard……or even a rather lush caramel sauce…..

This will serve 4-5, depending on the size of the portion.

Preheat an oven to gas 4, 180c.

Now because I don’t have all the tins, I used a 7″ sandwich tin with a loose bottom, but fully lined this with greaseproof, so that it came up the sides by about 2″. If you don’t line it, or have a more suitable tin, the caramel you create will seep out the base…and all that taste and squidgy sponge will more than likely burn.

2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced.

70g butter

70g soft brown sugar (although I used dark for this)

130g soft butter

120g caster sugar

130g gluten free self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the 70g of butter and the 70g of sugar and boil for 2 minutes to make the caramel.

Use the sliced bramleys to line the base of the tin with your desired pattern and cover with the caramel sauce. Leave to cool whilst you make the sponge.

Put all of the ingredients into you food mixer/table top mixer and beat until you have the desired consistency (about 4-5mins) for your sponge. If it’s a little heavy and doesn’t ‘drop’, add a little water. I have found that adding milk makes for a rather obscure taste with gluten free baking that I could do without. Hence using water is best for me.

Pour over the apples and caramel and bake for about 20-25mins. Or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Don’t though put it all the way through, as it will get some of the apple mix.

Carefully remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 5 minutes, before placing a large dinner plate over the cake and turn the cake over (upside down! It all makes sense now 😄) The lovely caramel sauce should then seep back into the sponge.

Serve immediately with custard or sauce of choice.