A simple but classic fruit sponge dessert that's most often made with apples. Once baked, you end up with three layers: the fruit itself, a gooey sponge and a crisp yet light top. This version of Eve's pudding includes ground cherries as well as apples and the sponge is made with a mix of wholemeal flour and polenta for a bit of added texture.
Prep Time25 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Keyword: apples, ground cherries, polenta, wholemeal spelt flour
Mix together the ground cherries, apples, demerara sugar, honey and the grated zest of ½ of the lemon.
500 g cooking apples, 250 g ground cherries, 30 g demerara sugar, 1 tbsp honey
Place in a buttered baking dish and bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for about 10 minutes until the fruit starts to soften.
Sponge
Meanwhile, stir the polenta, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and zest of ½ lemon together in a bowl.
40 g polenta, 40 g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 60 g golden caster sugar, 1 pinch salt
Make a well in the centre and add the egg, melted butter, juice of ½ lemon and enough milk to make a good dropping consistency.
1 large egg, 60 g butter
Spoon the mixture over the fruit and bake for 25 minutes until the sponge is well risen and golden.
Notes
You can of course, omit the ground cherries and use all apple instead. Or substitute for fruit of your choice.For a chocolate sponge version, just add a little lemon zest and a squeeze of juice to the fruit along with ¼ tsp ground cinnamon. For the sponge, omit the lemon and add 50g dark chocolate when melting the butter and ½ tsp of ground cinnamon to the flour.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.