My Pie Dish Apple Cake with Sticky Toffee Edges is an absolute autumn must have. I love apples with spices in the autumn. They make me feel all warm and cosy; that everything is ok. The garden may be covered with leaves, the sun lower, and you may be doing well to get your washing dry outside, but everything is ok when you can smell apples and spices. It’s not only me is it?
Not only does this cake taste of autumn but it’s also fantastically versatile. I’ve made many of these over the past few weeks and my eldest will testify that not only does it make a brilliant pudding with a drizzle of cream or some home-made custard, but it’s also gorgeous for a weekend breakfast, on its own or with a dollop of natural yogurt.
If you are looking for a cake to slice and eat tidily then you would be much better making my Double Chocolate Traybake or my Lime and Coconut Cake with Coconut Icing. This Apple Cake is more a cake to be spooned out of the dish, making sure that none of the sticky toffee edge is left behind. If you don’t mind eating your cake out of a bowl then this is the cake for you.
I discovered the sticky toffee edge accidentally one day when I was failing at multitasking. I was making last week’s Spiced Lamb Meatballs in a Fragrant Tomato Sauce at the same time, ready for a double photo shoot, so the sugary apples that I had tipped into the pie dish in preparation got left on the table while I juggled things in the kitchen. I discovered that the resulting sugar syrup that occurs as a result of the waiting turns into the most gorgeous sticky toffee in the oven.
This dish couldn’t be simpler to make, which, as my regular readers will know, is my kind of dish. So go on, grab some apples and give it a go!
Other gorgeous autumnal apple recipes you might like to try:
- Brandied Apple Custard
- Healthier Apple Crumble
- Apple Cinnamon Maple Yogurt
- Apple Pie Smoothie
- Sage, Apple and Sausagemeat Stuffing

Pie Dish Apple Cake with Sticky Toffee Edges
Ingredients
For the apples
- 3 medium sized Bramley apples peeled and cored (about 500g)
- 100 g (½ cup) light brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
For the batter
- 2 eggs
- 200 g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 65 g (¼ cup) full fat natural yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120 g (1 cup) self-raising flour (or 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1½ teaspoons baking powder)
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
For the apples
- Peel and core the apples and cut into 2½cm (1 inch) dice.
- Toss with the cinnamon and sugar and tip into the bottom of your pie dish.
- Leave to stand for 30 minutes (this creates the sticky toffee edges).
For the topping
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Beat the eggs with an electric whisk until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Add the vanilla, sugar and natural yogurt and mix thoroughly.
- Add the flour, extra baking powder if necessary and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter over the apples and bake for 50-55 minutes until golden brown and the edges are bubbling and toffee like.
What a wonderful way to prepare this apple cake, would love to serve it as dessert with some warm custard. The sticky toffee at the edges sure makes it so tempting.
Let me know when you make it and I’ll pop round 😉