Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
As you know we love feeding the Missionaries. The last few months has seen a slow down in that area due to problems with our dishwasher and my health, but thankfully both of those issues seem to have been sorted, with a new dishwasher (courtesy of our appliance insurance) and some changes in my medication and diet! Win/win! So happily I signed up to have each set of Missionaries over for tea this month. The other night we had the first set and this was the dessert I made for them!
Stuffed Baked Apples. Such an easy dish to make and oh-so-delicious! Almost like an apple crumble but much, much easier.
The recipe is set up for four servings, but I did six (easy when you know the math) because I always like to have extra's just in case.
You can use any good eating apple. I used Jazz apples, which had a lovely flavour. (They are like a sweet delicious apple.) They did take a bit longer than some other varieties might take, so do bear that in mind when you are baking apples. Not all varieties are equal, some take longer to bake than others. You just have to keep testing them. When done a sharp knife will slip in easily.
You begin by hollowing out/coring the apples. I use my melon baller, but you can use whatever you have to hand. The thing to remember is, you don't want to core them all the way to the bottom. You will need to keep the bottom end intact so that the filling doesn't leak out from there.
The filling is very simple . . . old fashioned large flake oats, brown sugar, chopped pecans and raisins, some butterscotch or white chocolate chips . . .
Warm baking spices . . . ground cinnamon, cloves (just a pinch because cloves can be very overpowering) and freshly grated nutmeg. Oh, I do love the smell of freshly grated nutmeg, don't you? I always use my fine micro-plane /grater-zester to do this job. I wouldn't be without it.
You could also add some aromatics such as grated orange or lemon zest. This mixture gets stuffed down into the apples . . . and then you top each with a tiny bit of butter, add some hot water in the baking dish around them, cover and bake.
Covered for the first half hour or so, and uncovered for the last. The end result is a very delicious, simple, homey dessert that will have the whole family oohing and aahing. Todd really loves these. You can serve them with pouring cream as I have here, custard (very good) or vanilla bean ice cream (My favourite!). They are lovely served warm. You can bake them earlier in the day and then just pop them back into the oven to re-heat while you are eating your main course. These are real family pleasers!
2 TBS chopped raisins
2 TBS chopped pecans
2 TBS vanilla chips (or butterscotch)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
4 tsp butter
To serve:
Vanilla ice cream, custard or pouring cream
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold your apples in a single layer.
Wash and dry your apples. Working from the stem end down, core the apples making about 1/2 inch space, leaving bottom intact. A melon baller works great for this.
Mix together the sugar, oats, raisins, pecans, chops, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Pack one quarter of this mixture down into the hollow of each apple, packing it in firmly. Arrange in the baking dish in a single layer, cut side up. Dot the top of each with 1 tsp butter. Pour the hot water into the dish around the apples. Cover loosely with aluminium foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, until the apples are soft and the filling has nicely cooked.
Serve warm with ice cream, custard or pouring cream.
Note - depending on the variety of apples it may take a bit longer. When done, the tip of a sharp knife should easily penetrate near the base of the apples.
Simple desserts like this really are the best. These went down a real treat with everyone! Bonne Weekend!
I've been reading this fabulous book that I got from the Chester Library entitled Everyman's England, by Victor Canning. My parents were big fans of Canning's novels; he was a prolific author, but this is my first and far-too-brief acquaintance with his writing.
Its a collection of essays, comissioned by the Daily Mail and written by the author during the years between WW1 and WW2. I have to say I am truly enjoying it, gobbling it up like a feast.
These elegant, humorous, essays about random destinations take the reader back to a kinder gentler England, when the English countryside was still what Richard Askwith would call rural.
There was a particular passage the other night that called to my culinary soul and had me laying bed as I was reading it, literally drooling. He had come across a pub after a walk across the Yorkshire Dales . . . and this is what he wrote . . .
"It was at this inn that I got, for a ridiculously small sum, a lunch which more than ever endeared me to Wharfedale, for after a man has had a morning full of beauty there is no better cap to it than a lunch which in itself is a thing of beauty. There was a rich, dark soup which was not only hot, but full of the flavour of vegetables, then turkey with thyme and parsley stuffing, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, a fruit tart with a crust it was a shame to break and a joy to eat, a portion of Wensleydale cheese and a cup of as good a coffee as you could expect in England."
I just had to recreate this meal . . .
And so I did . . . it was a bit of work, but what a wonderful experience I had both cooking it and then enjoying the labours of my efforts. For the first course I did a half recipe of my Hearty Vegetable Soup, which is delicious in it's own right.
We each had a small bowl. Then followed Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast, which I served with Sage and Onion Stuffing, steamed sprouts and my Classic Roast Potatoes. (with Gravy of course).
What followed that was this delicious Toffee and Apple Tart and then a wedge of Wensleydale Cheese with apricots and some disgestive biscuits.
We could not fit in the cheese. That is one hefty dinner!!
As delicious as it was, you would need to be hiking the Dales in order to get a true appreciation of all of it and take it all in.
But a tiny bit of each was really delicious, not the least of this fabulous Toffee Apple Tart!
He hadn't said anything about what kind of fruit tart he had eaten, only that it had a crisp pastry and was delicious. This Toffee Apple Tart is just that.
A delicious tart with brittle pasty and a moreish caramel filling.
This is a tart that will have every man's mother sighing and reaching for just one more tiny sliver. It has a beautifully crisp buttery pastry, which you fill with sweet and silky Dulce de Lech . . . so easy as you use ready made toffee unless you are so inclined as to make your own.
I always keep a tin in my cupboard. This is topped with thinly sliced apples and glazed with an apricot jam/lemon glaze. Altogether this is lovely. Simple and easy to make, and just gorgeous. A tart you will find yourself seeking at 2 am, wanting just one more tiny sliver . . .
*Toffee Apple Tart*
Serves 6 to 8
Heat
the jam and the lemon juice together and keep warm. Peel and core the
apples. Cut into thin slices. Spread the dulce de lait in the baked
pastry shell in an even layer. Arrange the apples over top of the
caramel. Brush the top with the apricot jam and lemon juice mixture.
Bake
for 25 minutes until piping hot and golden brown in spots. Leave to
cool for at least 15 minutes prior to serving. Serve warm or at room
temperature.
Yes, I did top our slices with a small dollop of Clotted Cream. In for a penny in for a pound. Decadent, but so, so good.
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I wanted to make my husband my Irish Apple Cake for Saint Patricks Day. He loves apple anything.
I have been wanting to re-do some of my earlier recipes and take new photos of them, so today, in honor of Saint Patrick, I re-did my Irish Apple Cake Recipe.
The original photos are not so great as it was about 5 years ago now that I first posted this recipe. The dough for the cake is very similar to a scone type of dough.
You rub the butter into self rising flour, just like you would for a scone. It is a bit damper however.
This gets spread in the bottom of a tin with a removable bottom. I like to make an edge all the way around to encase the sliced apples.
Use a good cooking apple that will hold it's shape. This gets tossed together with some brown sugar and cinnamon.
Pop that into the centre of the cake base. Don't slice the apple too thick or it won't cook.
You want it cooked through but not falling apart, if you know what I mean.
My original recipe had you divide the cake dough in half and put half on top and half on the bottom. Today I chose to put it all on the bottom and up the edges.
The original version was nice, but I wanted to improve upon it if I could and I had seen other Irish Apple Cakes done this way.
I also created a streusel topping to scatter over the top instead of a crust like the original one. I thought it would update it a bit and be like a cross between a cake and a crumble.
I do love an apple crumble, don't you? Serve this warm with either some custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Todd likes his custard. Both are good. You can find my custard recipe here.
*Irish Apple Cake*
Serves 6 to 8Printable Recipe
A delicous version of an apple cake, baked with tasty apple slices sandwiched in the centre. Serve warm with or without custard.
280g self raising flour (generous 2 cups) (You may need extra
so don't put the flour away just yet)
125g butter (1/2 cup)
1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
100g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
80ml milk (1/3 cup)
Filling:
2 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
60g soft light brown sugar (4 1/2 TBS)
Streusel Topping:
105 g plain flour (3/4 cup)
20g old fashioned oats (1/4 cup)
100g sugar (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 TBS butter, cut into bitsYou will also need:
Icing sugar to dust, warm custard to serve or a scoop of ice cream (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep flan tin, with a loose bottom, roughly 9 inches in diameter. Set aside.
Make the Streusel. Measure the flour and oats and sugar into a bowl. Stir in the cinnamon. Drop in the butter. Rub together with your fingers until it clumps together and you have a crumble mixture.
Place
the flour and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter in with your
fingertips to form a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the sugar. Add the
beaten egg and milk and mix together with a round bladed knife. If the
dough seems a bit too sticky add a bit more flour. You want a soft
dough.
Spoon the dough into the prepared pan, making it higher around
the edges, about 1 inch into the centre with a hollowed out space to put
the apples. Spread
the apple slices evenly over the centre of the base. Press them down
lightly.
Sprinkle with the soft light brown sugar and the cinnamon.
Sprinkle the streusel over top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes,
until well risen and golden brown.
Let stand in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing the sides.
Place the tin on top of a jar
and push the sides of the pan down and remove. Place the cake on a
wire rack to cool to warm. Dust with icing sugar before cutting into wedges to serve, with or without ice cream or custard.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand. Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I had some apples which I needed to use this week and I was tired of doing the same old same old and so I did a search on google and came up with this. I confess I had my doubts when I encountered this recipe on cooks.com.
It was so simple . . . no crust per se, and no leavening. How could this work? Its been my experience however, that simple things are oftimes the best things, and so I crossed my fingers and went with the flow! I took a chance.
Wow! This was so simple and quick to put together. You just slice the apples and dump them into the pie tin, sprinkle them with a little bit of sugar and cinnamon and then pour the batter over top and bake.
Leave it to the Swedes to come up with something which is totally streamlined and totally tasty. That is their hallmark in design and clearly with cooking also!
The batter is simply melted butter, sugar, an egg and flour. It shouldn't work, but it does . . . amazingly!
The apples are sweet and soft, without being overly so. You will want them to be a bit tart because there is pleny of sweetness in that crisp and buttery batter topping.
Oh boy, oh boy. It is a day later and I cannot walk by this without wanting to dig in and have just a smidgen more.
It is one of the MOST delicious apple desserts I have ever baked. Seriously. Talk about Hygge. Comfort.
Sweet comfort. I know you probably only just started a diet and its too soon to break it, but hey. Some things you just don't want to miss!
*Swedish Apple Pie*
Serves 6
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Butter a 9 inch deep fill pie dish. Put the apples into the dish. Sprinkle with the sugar and then the cinnamon. Whisk together the butter, sugar, egg flour and salt until smooth. Stir in the nuts and then pour this over top of the apples to cover. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes until set and golden brown.
Allow to cool until just warm before serving. Cut into wedges to serve. Serve warm with ice cream if desired.
Seriously you really do WANT to bake this. I wouldn't couldn't lie about something as serious as dessert. I guarantee it will become a firm favourite in your repertoire. If you ever find yourself in need of a quick and simple dessert that will blow your guests socks off . . . this is THE one!
Happy Weekend!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
I decided to make Todd a treat today. I have next to no will power when it comes to cake and so I have been trying to do mug cakes when I can. That way he gets to enjoy a bit of an indulgence and I have nothing to tempt me. This one turned out really REALLY lovely.
My Todd just adores apple desserts . . . pies, cakes, puddings, crumbles . . . I decided to make him a crumble the other day, but this is a crumble with a difference! It has the addition of sticky prunes and a lovely hazelnut and oat crumble topping!
This is a lovely dessert I made the other night when we had some company for dinner. I had other plans, but the time got away from me.
I decided to whip up an Eve's Pudding, which makes a quick and easy dessert, and is quite a traditional pudding here in the UK.
This recipe, however, is not just an ordinary Eve's Pudding, but an Apple and Blueberry Eve's Pudding. Slightly different then the original traditional Eve's Pudding, but incredibly delicious!
Eve's pudding is a traditional British pudding made from sliced cooking apples with a sponge cake mixture spooned over top.
The apples are allowed to stew at the bottom of the baking dish while the cake mixture cooks on top. In this case, I sprinkled some blueberries over the apples to give it a bit of colour and variety!
You could add some spice to the apples if you wished, perhaps a bit of cinnamon, but that day I left them plain.
I like to start the apples cooking in the dish in the oven while I whip the sponge mixture together.
The sponge mixture goes together very easily . . . . and results in a lovely sponge with a moist crumb. I flavoured it with a bit of orange, both some juice and some finely grated zest.
Served warm from the oven with lashings of cream, it went down a real treat, but custard, or vanilla icecream would also be delicious!
*Apple and Blueberry Eve's Pudding*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
A slightly different version from the traditional Eve's Pudding. Easy Peazy, and oh so scrummy yummy! Serve warm with lashings of cream or custard poured over top each serving.
1 1/2 pounds cooking apples, peeled, quartered,
cored and cut into thick slices
4 ounces blueberries, fresh or frozen (1/4 pound)
3 ounces of caster sugar (a scant 1/2 cup)
1 TBS water
Topping:
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup)
4 ounces of caster sugar (a generous half cup)
2 large free range eggs
4 ounces self raising flour (a scant 1 cup)
2 TBS fresh orange juice
the grated zest of one small orange
Icing Sugar for dusting
Warm custard, or cream for serving
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Place the apples and cranberries into a 2 1/2 pint baking dish, at least 2 inches deep. Sprinkle the caster sugar over top along with the water. Place into the heated oven and allow to cook for about ten minutes while you make the topping.
To make the topping measure all the ingredients into a bowl and then whisk together until smooth with an electric whisk. Remove the fruit from the oven and spread this batter evenly over top. Return to the oven and cook for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and the top springs back when lightly touched.
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with custard or cream.
The dish I used to bake my Eve's Pudding in was the Wade Ceramics 12 inch Oval Pie dish. It was the perfect size and shape for this dessert. Its really meant for pies, but worked very well for this as well.
The rim of this dish provides ample support for a pie lid; seals pastry and prevents pie from shrinking back during cooking. There is also an indented space to place pie funnels. Pie funnels work effectively to release steam which helps in keeping the pie crust crisp
It is made from the finest porcelain, in an attractive off white colour for a timeless classic look. It has an accurate depth design which is created to contain various ingredients ensuring that the pie filling cooks well and evenly. It is microwave, oven and dishwasher safe.
Another handy piece of kit I was able to use on the day was was the Daisy Food Cover. This particular item is designed to protect food from pests, whilst adding that finishing touch to picnic and barbecue tables.
Another handy piece of kit I was able to use on the day was was the Daisy Food Cover. This particular item is designed to protect food from pests, whilst adding that finishing touch to picnic and barbecue tables.
This is going to come in really handy during the warm weeks ahead. I love eating out of doors, but I hate the idea of flies and other assorted pests crawling over my food prior to our eating.
As you can see it was large enough to amply cover this 12 inch pie dish with plenty of space overhead and around. And it's really pretty. I love it.
As you can see it was large enough to amply cover this 12 inch pie dish with plenty of space overhead and around. And it's really pretty. I love it.
This really was a beautiful pudding. Not only was it quick and easy to make and very, very attractive . . . but it was quite, quite delicious!
Note - although I was sent free product from Eddington's to use and review, I was not required to write a positive review. Any and all opinions are entirely my own.
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