Candice Brown's salted caramel apple crumble with cinnamon custard

It's only been a month since she won The Great British Bake Off but Candice Brown has already been tipped to be the new Nigella Lawson. The former school teacher, turned glamorous baker joins us in the kitchen to show us how to make a decadent dessert for the weekend which could also become the perfect alternative to your traditional Christmas Pudding.

Candice will be baking us a delicious salted caramel apple crumble with cinnamon custard to give it that festive flavour and tells us all about how her life has changed since winning the show and why she's decided to swap the classroom for the kitchen.

Ingredients

For the salted caramel:

60g soft light brown sugar60g soft dark brown sugar120g unsalted butter100ml double cream1tsp rock salt

For the filling:

4 peeled cored Bramley apples4 peeled cored eating apples (sweeter)2 star aniseCinnamon stick

For the crumble:

250g plain flour200g soft unsalted butter100g golden caster sugar50g chopped medjool dates50g rolled oats25g flaked almonds50g Demerara sugar

For the cinnamon custard:

300ml double cream50ml whole milk1 tsp ground cinnamon2 large egg yolks25g golden caster sugar

To serve: Dried apple slices

Method

For the salted caramel, place the sugars and butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat until the sugar has dissolved- turn to medium and allow it to bubble- when frothy and bubbling remove from heat and stir in the double cream. Add salt and allow to cool

For the apple filling, peel, core and chop the apples into chunks then add to a large saucepan with the star anise and snapped cinnamon stick. Add 1 tablespoon of water and allow to soften over a low heat for 10 minutes.

For the Crumble, in a large bowl add the flour and butter and rub with finger tips until breadcrumb texture- add the sugar, dates and oats and mix together- scrunching it together to get lumps of crumble

Put the apple mix into an ovenproof dish and remove the star anise and cinnamon stick. Drizzle over the salted caramel then tip over the crumble mix evenly, do not press down it should be lumpy and bumpy!

Scatter over the flaked almonds and Demerara sugar and bake for 25-30 mins at 160/180 degrees until bubbling

For the cinnamon custard, add the cream, milk and cinnamon to a saucepan. Heat gently until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat and set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar in a separate large bowl until smooth and pale. Slowly add the cream in a thin stream whisking all the time. Transfer to a clean saucepan and gently heat, whisking all the time, until it thickens. Pass through a sieve.

Serve the crumble with custard and extra salted caramel if needed