Brioche frangipane apple pudding

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 8

½ a brioche loaf

175g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

175g caster sugar

1 tsp almond extract

175g ground almonds

3 eggs, beaten

25g plain flour

About 2 red dessert apples, skin on, cored and thinly sliced

2 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted

Icing sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

You will need a large, shallow, oven proof dish, about 28 cm india meter. Pre heat the oven to 200 C /180 C fan/ Gas 6 and grease the dish with butter. Slice the brioche into thin slices, about 5 mm( quarter of an inch ), and arrange these over the base of the dish. Make sure you cover the base and fill in all the gaps, but don’t overlap the slices. Measure the butter and sugar into a food processor and whiz until pale and fluffy. Add the almond extract, ground almonds, eggs and flour, then whizz again until the mixture is soft and creamy and there are no lumps. Be careful not to over-process. Spoon the mixture over the brioche base and spread it to thes sides. Arrange the sliced apples inane at over lapp ping circular pattern over the top. Bake the pudding in the oven for about 40 minutes until lightly gold den all over and firm in the centre when lightly pr ressed. Melt the jam with two tablespoons of water in a small pan. Brush over the surface and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Dust the pudding with icing sugar and serve warm. wa Simple Comforts by Mary Berry is published byy BBC Books, priced £26. Photography by Laura Edwards. E