Brioche frangipane apple pudding

When you feel in need of a comfort pudding, this one really fits the bill. It’s perfect for Sunday lunch, served warm with ice cream, custard, cream or crème fraîche.

QServes 8

½ brioche loaf

175g butter, softened, plus extra

for the dish

175g caster sugar

1 tsp almond extract

175g ground almonds

3 eggs, beaten

25g plain flour

2 red dessert apples, unpeeled, cored

and thinly sliced

2 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted icing sugar, for dusting

1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and butter a 28cm shallow baking dish.

2 Slice the brioche loaf into thin slices, about 5mm wide, and arrange over the base of the dish. Make sure you cover the base and fill in all the gaps, but don’t overlap the slices.

3 Put the butter and caster sugar into a food processor and blitz until pale and fluffy. Add the almond extract, ground almonds, eggs and flour, then blitz again until the mixture is soft and creamy and there are no lumps. Be careful not to overmix.

4 Spoon the mixture over the brioche base and spread it to the sides. Arrange the apple slices in a neat, overlapping circular pattern over the top. Bake for 40 mins until lightly golden all over and firm in the centre when lightly pressed. Can be prepared and baked up to 8 hrs ahead. Reheat to serve.

5 Melt the jam with 2 tbsp water in a small pan. Brush over the surface of the pudding and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

6 Dust the top with some icing sugar and serve warm.