WHEN Appleton market opened for the first time earlier this year, local food writer William Black baked some delicious saffron buns using a 17th-century recipe written by Lady Fettiplace, of Appleton Manor.

They proved a great success and he sold out in a few minutes. He is now making saffron loaves, using the same recipe.

To celebrate Appleton's special Apple Day market, at Appleton village hall on Sunday from 10am until 1pm, he has created a special Appleton pudding, which, when served warm with a sticky toffee sauce, is absolutely delicious.

This is the recipe he came up with. If you haven't time to cook the pudding, you can pick one up at the market on Sunday - if you arrive early enough.

To make a batch, or one large pudding, you will need: 400g cooking apples, peeled and quartered 400 ml water 170g softened butter 350g dark brown or Demerara sugar 2 tbspns golden syrup 4 tbspns treacle 4 free-range eggs 1 tspn vanilla essence 2 dspns bicarbonate of soda 400g SR flour For the sauce: 200ml single cream 80g unsalted butter 80g dark brown sugar 6 tbspns golden syrup Method: Bring the apples to the boil in the water and leave to cool a little, then purée, having drained off any surplus liquid Preheat the oven to 200C/400F or gas mark 6 Blend the sugar and the softened butter Add treacle, syrup, eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture, beat well together, then slowly stir in the cooled apple purée, then the flour and bicarbonate of soda Pour into pâté trays or foil containers of your choice, being careful to fill only three-quarters full as the pudding will rise in the oven Bake until golden brown, resisting the temptation to open the oven door for at least 20 minutes, though they may well need 25 minutes to be cooked right through. If you are making a large pudding rather than a batch, it will need longer to cook Make the sauce by putting all the ingredients into a saucepan and gently bringing to full heat, stirring as you go. Once heated, you should have a delicious sticky sauce which can be poured straight over the Appleton puddings.