Old Mother Rayner went to the cupboard to bake her poor hubby a pie. When she got there the cupboard was bare, except for a couple of apples, some cornflakes, some butter and a bit of brown sugar and spice and so she did what was the next best thing. Poor Man's Apple Pie.
Not really, I just made that up, but when I came across this old, old recipe that is immediately what came to mind . . . the wonderful thing that happens when opportunity, need and provenance meet together in a delicious way to create something the family will enjoy eating together.
This is what it looks like before you put it into the oven. Its not really a pie, but layers of thinly sliced apple, with a sprinkling of brown sugar, baking spices and cornflakes. Oh, and butter. You dot each layer of cornflakes with some butter.
This is what it looks like when it comes out of the oven . . . the apples cook and get soft and almost melt down . . .
The butter and the brown sugar and the spice melt together, with the inner layer of cornflakes thickening up the juices . . .
The Top layer of cornflakes getting crisp and golden brown . . . and yes, slightly sweet and buttery, and lightly spiced . . .
Todd enjoyed his warm, out of the oven . . . with lashings of evaporated milk poured over top as I had no cream . . . and during the war, when he was growing up, evaporated milk was the only cream-like thing they had to enjoy with their desserts . . . he likes evaporated milk. (Me, not so much. I am spoilt.)
For myself, I would enjoy this with ice cream. A nice ball of good vanilla ice cream. I did not have more than a little taste of this however, just so I could tell you how good it was.
And it is good, very good . . .
Tart and sweet . . . lightly spiced . . . buttery and crunchy . . .
In short, pretty perfect!
I am really pleased that I took the opportunity to bake this. It sounded interesting and it sounded tasty, and it was very tasty. Very tasty indeed.
I don't think it will ever replace apple pie in the scheme of things, but it did make for a highly enjoyable dessert according to Todd.
Yield: 4-6Author: Marie Rayner
Poor Man's Apple Pie
prep time: 15 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 45 minsI strongly suspect this old, old recipe was born out of need. Layers of sliced apple cornflakes, brown sugar and butter. What can ever be wrong with that!ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds eating apples, peeled, cored and thinly slicedcorn flakessoft light brown sugara bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and clovesbutter to dotPouring cream to serve
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have
ready a medium sized deep baking dish. Butter the dish. Start layering
in as follows: Sliced apple, cornflakes, a dessertspoon of soft light
brown sugar sprinkled over all, some cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and
dotted butter. Repeat until all your apples are used up and ending with
cornflakes, sugar, seasoning and butter. Bake in the preheated oven
for 25 to 30 minutes until the apples are soft. Spoon out into bowls and
serve with some pouring cream.Created using The Recipes Generator
Quick, easy, simple and delicious. This ticks all the boxes. Bon Appetit!
Oh by the way, what did you think of the Bake Off? I was thrilled with the results. I called it from the very beginning. I did think that the technical challenge was a really nasty one. Baking Pita Breads and three dips with no work stand and only an open fire. I told Todd as I was watching it, "And that is why I would never go on GBBO!" In the heat, with the sun beating down on them. I was not at all surprised that everyone's ended up being rubbish! It was a no win challenge! Once again, Bon Appetit!