Apple wedding cake

Serves 8-1

(Jason Lowe)

This is a local wedding recipe that is served as a pre-ceremony snack with a glass of the local plum-distilled alcohol, which is a bit like a rough version of the the French drink vieille prune. The base uses a sweet bread dough which I haven't given you a recipe for, as most people have their own favourite bread dough recipe; it could be yeast- or sourdough-based.

About 300g white bread dough with a couple of tablespoons of honey kneaded into it

Flour for dusting
4 dessert apples, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
1tsp ground cinnamon

For the polenta

750ml milk
A pinch of nutmeg
75g quick cooking polenta
100g caster sugar
100ml double cream

For the topping

150ml double cream
100g caster sugar
4 egg yolks

Roll the bread dough out to about 40cm x 20-30cm or to fit a shallow, lightly greased baking tray. To make the polenta, bring the milk to the boil in a thick-bottomed pan, then stir in the nutmeg, polenta and

sugar and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often (a simmer plate is perfect for this). Add the cream and continue cooking for another couple of minutes and remove from the heat. The polenta shouldn't be too stiff; if it is then just add a little more milk.

For the topping, bring the cream and sugar to the boil, place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk the cream mixture on to them. Return to the pan and stir or whisk over a very low heat until it begins to thicken, then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Spread the polenta over the dough, mix the apple and cinnamon together and scatter over the polenta; then spoon over the cream mixture.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until golden, then leave to rest, scatter over a little caster sugar, remove from the tray and cut into squares or rectangles.