Toffee Apple Crumble Cupcake (makes 12)

In February I performed "Storm in a Teacup" in the English Flower Garden at Hamilton Gardens in New Zealand. To connect with the garden I themed the cupcake-making demonstration around culinary inspiration from my English childhood. It was a delightful afternoon, the weather was perfect, the event was a sellout and all the participants were gorgeous. One of the highlights for me would have to be witnessing the only gent proudly icing his cupcake while telling me had never done this before (he was about 70!)

This cupcake is a combination of two happy childhood memories. Firstly buying toffee apples that gleamed like precious gems in the sunshine at the village fete. Always impossible to eat and a real hazard when you had wiggly teeth, but somehow with sheer determination and the deliciously sweet and sour combination spurring me on I'd eventually get down to the core! Secondly eating my Mum's classic Sunday roast followed by the equally classic English pud, apple crumble. Ah, what simple bliss.

In this recipe I opted for using chewy milk toffees as I wanted a lovely gooey finish and I didn't want to damage any teeth!

Ingredients
2 small eating apples grated with skin on – I like red apples for colour
125g melted butter
½ cup of raw sugar
1 beaten egg
1 ½ cup plain flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
2 tsp of cinnamon
8 chewy toffees (each toffee chopped into 8 pieces)

Crumble Topping
25g butter
½ cup sieved plain flour
1 tbsp of brown sugar

Toffee Sauce
5 chewy toffees and 1 tbsp of milk

Method
1 Make crumble topping first – In a medium bowl combine the flour and sugar. Cut the butter into small piece and drop it into the flour and sugar mix. Rub in the butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Set aside.

2 In a medium bowl combine apple and sugar. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
3Add butter and egg to the apple and sugar mix. Stir until combined.

4 Sieve all dry ingredients in a separate bowl then gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet mix. Only stir until all ingredients are combined.
5 Spoon mixture into cupcake cases set in a muffin tin. Evenly distribute toffee pieces amongst the cupcakes and with your finger, gently push the toffee pieces into the cake mix so the toffee is just covered.

6 Top each cupcake with a desert spoon of crumble topping.
7 Bake for 25 mins in a 180°c fan bake oven/gas mark 4. Cupcakes are cooked when the crumble is slightly golden.
8 Place the remaining toffees into a heavy bottomed saucepan. On a medium heat melt the toffees and slowly stir in the milk. You will end up with a toffee sauce. Dribble sauce over each cooked cupcake while they are still warm and in the tin. Remove cupcakes from tin and cool on a wire rack.

Can be served warm with ice cream or custard or serve cold as is.