Mark Hix's Bramley Apple & Cider Pudding Cake

A champion of British cooking, celebrated chef, restaurateur and food writer Mark Hix created this recipe for Bramley Apple and Cider Pudding Cake for National Bramley Apple Week, which is celebrated in Britain the first week of February every year. As a child, Mark remembers the bread pudding his Gran used to make as a regular tea time snack. "It’s one of those puddings or cakes that all households should make once a week. It makes a great tea time snack or even as a pudding with some homemade ice cream." Rather like a fruity version of an old-fashioned bread pudding, this is a deliciously moist treat for anytime of the day, from a chef who can do no wrong.

Champion of British cooking, top chef and prolific food writer Mark Hix

In his newest cookbook, Mark Hix on Baking, the renowned chef applies his characteristic flair to a range of sweet and savoury recipes that reflect his own unique interpretation of baking, which covers pretty much anything that can be cooked in an oven. Split into chapters covering snacks, bread, meat and fish, vegetables, savoury and sweet tarts and puddings and cakes, Hix's selection of recipes are based on his "favourite baked dishes, those which I have been cooking for years or eaten on my travels around the globe". Yet another great British cookbook to add to my culinary library.

Mark Hix's most recent cookbook - Mark Hix on Baking

Bramley Apple & Cider Pudding Cake
Serves 8
Recipe courtesy Mark Hix

1 3/4 cups medium strength cider
8 oz fruit sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
2 oz sultanas
2 oz raisins
1 orange, grated zest only
4 oz brown or white bread
4 large eggs, beaten
2 medium sized Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced*
2 oz butter
Icing sugar, for dusting


Bring the cider, sugar, spices, sultanas, raisins and orange zest to the boil. Break the bread into small pieces and mix into the syrup in a bowl. Cover with cling film and leave overnight.

Meanwhile peel core and slice the apples, cutting half of one into rings for the top of the cake. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the apples on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring as they're cooking, until they're lightly coloured then leave to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Fold the eggs into the bread mixture then fold in the apples. Pour the mixture into a round springform cake pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the cake is firm, and dust the top with icing sugar while it's still hot.