Pour over baked apples for a delicious dessert inspired by Bonfire Night toffee apples
Lyle’s golden syrup comes in the most ornate and nostalgic of tins, but the syrup inside often proves almost impossible to extract entirely. Turn what might otherwise be wasted into this luxurious toffee sauce to savour on Bonfire Night, especially when drizzled generously over cinnamon baked apples with scoops of vanilla ice-cream.
Apples transform beautifully when baked, turning this hyper-seasonal fruit into a super-simple yet decadent dessert. I prefer cox or braeburn varieties (ie, something not too large), so you can serve one apple per person.
Gordon Ramsay’s recipes are my go-to for traditional techniques that deliver reliable results. Here, I’ve adapted his recipe for caramel sauce to make use of every last drop from a golden syrup tin, reduced the amount of sugar, and added sea salt and optional vanilla to heighten the quintessential taste of British toffee. (The invert sugars in golden syrup are the secret to achieving a silky-smooth toffee sauce, because sugar alone can recrystallise, leaving it grainy.) If you don’t have golden syrup, glucose syrup or honey also work well.
This versatile sauce works with all manner of desserts, from a classic banana split to these baked apples with ice-cream. The warm sauce melts seductively over the hot fruit, creating a wonderful juxtaposition of flavours, textures and temperatures. Keep any excess sauce in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two weeks, or for a few months in the freezer.
