If you think Britain is obsessed with baking, then take a look at how they do it in the US. TV chef James Martin gives Diana Pilkington a taste of his sweet American adventure. Here is a treat inspired by Martin’s travels.

Serves 6-8

For the cake:

250g butter

250g light brown sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

1tbsp maple syrup

4 eggs

250g self-raising flour

50g pecans

2 apples, cored and diced

For the crumble:

50g butter

100g plain flour

50g light brown sugar

For the fudge topping:

25g brown sugar

25g butter

25g maple syrup

50ml double cream

For the filling:

Whipped cream

Method:

For the cake, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 25cm spring form cake tin. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the cinnamon and maple syrup, then the eggs, one at a time.

Fold in the flour, pecans and half the diced apples.

Add the mixture to the cake tin.

For the crumble, rub the butter into the flour and sugar to resemble breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the cake mixture, with the remaining diced apples, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

For the fudge topping: while the cake is cooling, add brown sugar, butter, maple syrup and cream into a pan and bring to the boil.

Slice the cake horizontally and sandwich with whipped cream. Drizzle with the fudge topping.