Tag: Apple

Apple and blackberry cake

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Apples, blackberries, hazelnuts, nutmeg and cinnamon make for the the autumn-est of cakes

  • 100g unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 50g soft light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 200ml milk
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 100g chopped, toasted hazelnuts
  • 2 eating apples, peeled and cored and diced
  • 150g blackberries
  • 2 tsp granulated demerara sugar
  1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan (180C) and lightly grease a 20cm loose bottom or springform cake tin
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
  3. Slowly add the eggs, continuing to whisk constantly. Then whisk in the milk
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, hazelnuts, cinnamon and a pinch of salt
  5. Add the diced apple and whole blackberries and stir gently to coat with flour
  6. Gently fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well-combined
  7. Spoon into the cake tin and sprinke over the demerara evenly across the top
  8. Bake for 40-45 mins until the sides just begin to come away from the tin
  9. Run a palette knife around the edges so you can turn the cake out of the tin
  10. Fully cool on a wire rack, and serve at room temp with mascapone (with a little cinnamon and honey mixed through it if you’re feeling fancy)

Apple and spice cookies

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Like gingerbread and apple crumble had a baby. Exactly that delicious – but in cookie form.

  • 150g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 120g soft light brown sugar
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1½ tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • Grate of nutmeg
  • Pinch of ground cloves
  • 1 egg, fridge cold
  • 1 egg yolk, fridge cold
  • 250g plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 200g dried apple, snipped into pieces
  1. Preheat oven to 170C fan/190F and line baking trays with paper
  2. Pour the melted butter and both sugars into a large bowl and beat together
  3. Beat in the whole egg, then the egg yolk and vanilla until the mixture is light and creamy
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, bicarb, salt, ground almonds, spices and apple pieces until combined
  5. Then tip the dry ingredients into the egg/butter/sugar and stir in with a spoon until just combined
  6. Scoop up the mixture and, with damp hands, gently form into roughly walnut-sized balls 
  7. Place on the baking tray (spaced out to allow for spreading) and bake for 15-17 mins until golden
  8. Cool on a wire rack 

Apple and honey cake

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A Passover classic but delicious any time of year. Pretty, moist, golden and beautiful, inside and out.

  • 4 small apples, peeled, halved and cored
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 75g sugar
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 140g flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  1. Pre-heat oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Grease a springform tin and line the bottom with baking paper
  3. Place the peeled, halved and cored apples cut-side-down on a cutting board
  4. Use a sharp knife to cut a series of parallel lines 3-5mm apart to halfway through the apple pieces (so that the halves stay intact)
  5. Toss apple with lemon juice and 1 tbsp sugar
  6. In a scrupulously clean bowl, whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks
  7. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and remaining 75g sugar until fluffy
  8. Add the honey, cinnamon and egg yolks and beat until combined
  9. Add the flour, baking powder and salt half at a time, mixing until just combined
  10. Stir ¼ of the egg whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest
  11. Scrape cake batter into the tin, smoothing the top
  12. Arrange apple halves facedown on the cake batter – you don’t need to press them down, the cake will rise up to encase them 
  13. Bake for 35 mins until golden brown. Rest the tin on a rack for 5 mins before turning out to cool completely

Rhubarb, apple and almond pudding

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Warm, comforting, fragrant. Tangy with fruit and richly sweet with almond sponge.

1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1 small eating apple, peeled, cored and diced
400g rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces
3 heaped tbsp soft light brown sugar
2 heaped tbsp cornflour
1 tsp cinnamon
140g ground almonds
140g unsalted butter at room temperature
140g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Place the apples and rhubarb into a ceramic baking dish
  3. Throw in the brown sugar, cornflour and cinnamon and toss the fruit until coated
  4. In a big bowl, cream together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy
  5. Beat in the eggs a bit at a time until well combined
  6. Then fold in the ground almonds
  7. Dollop big spoonfuls onto the fruit and then spread the mixture evenly
  8. Bake for 1 hour and leave to stand for 15 mins before serving warm with custard

Apple and almond muffins

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Most autumnal of muffins. Delicious and justifiable to eat at literally any time of day. Makes 12.

  • 1 egg
  • 60g soft light brown sugar
  • 80g plain flour
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Couple of gratings nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp almond extract
  • 50ml sunflower oil
  • 2 apples, peeled and cored and diced
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • Handful of sultanas
  • Flaked almonds
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C) and line muffin cases
  2. Whisk together the sugar and egg until well combined and thickened
  3. Add the milk and oil and beat in
  4. Then add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, salt and spices
  5. Mix together thoroughly with a spoon or spatula, then add the apple and sultanas
  6. Stir them in and then spoon the batter into the muffin cases
  7. Sprinkle over a light scatter of flaked almonds
  8. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden and then cool on a wire rack
  9. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature

These freeze really well if you can’t get through all of them before they go stale

Apple sauce

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I love eating this on its own. My husband likes to eat it with cornflakes (weird). And it’s a great shortcut for a crumble or accompaniment to roast pork. Makes a 1 litre jar.

  • 6 large bramley apples, peeled and cored
  • 100g sugar
  • 100ml water
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Slice the apple into rough slices
  2. Dump the apple pieces into a large saucepan
  3. Sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon, and add the water
  4. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apple collapses. It won’t take long
  5. If you want to keep it for later, decant while hot into a sterilised glass jar. Tap on the work surface to dislodge any air bubbles and seal. Leave to cool and then store in the fridge.

Tarte au Pommes

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Elegant and lovely in shades of palest fawn, buff and cream. A graceful combination of nutty, sweet almond frangipane and fine slices of tart apple. Its full name is the regal-sounding Tarte au Pommes de la Normande. It is Worth. The. Effort.

2 tart apples
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp apricot jam

Pastry (pate brisee):
200g flour
100g unsalted butter, fridge cold
1 egg yolk
½ tsp salt
2-3 tbsp cold water

Frangipane:
100g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 egg yolk
2 tsp calvados or kirsch
100g ground almonds
2 tbsp flour

  1. For the pastry, mix flour and salt
  2. Grate in the cold butter and rub with fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs
  3. Whisk together the egg yolk and 2 tbsp water
  4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and butter crumbs and tip in the egg mixture
  5. Work together with your fingertips until partly mixed, then tip out onto the work surface and gradually work the ingredients into a dough. If it’s too dry, sprinkle over a little more cold water
  6. Press the dough firmly together (it should be soft but not sticky) and knead until it is smooth and pliable
  7. Press it into a ball and roll lightly in flour. Wrap in a plastic bag or clingfilm
  8. Chill for at least 30 mins or until firm
  9. Once firm, roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a couple of mm thick
  10. Transfer gently to a 10″ tart tin and press gently into the corners without breaking it. Prick the base lightly with a fork and flute the edges
  11. Chill in the fridge until ready to use

Then, when you’re ready to go…

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat
  3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  4. Gradually add the whole egg, the yolk and the calvados, beating well between additions
  5. Fold in the ground almonds and flour
  6. Scrape the frangipane into the chilled pastry case and spreading it evenly
  7. Core the apples, peel and quarter
  8. Cut each quarter crosswise into 1-2mm slices
  9. Arrange the slices on the frangipane like the spokes of a wheel, keeping the slices of each quarter apple together but sliding them apart like fanning out like a deck of cards
  10. Press them down gently into the frangipane
  11. Then place the tart onto the hot baking tray and bake for 10-15 mins, until the pastry is beginning to brown
  12. Turn down the heat to 160C fan (180C) and cook for a further 10 mins
  13. Sprinkle over the caster sugar and continue baking for around 10 mins more until the sugar melts and caramelises slightly
  14. Transfer to a rack to cool
  15. Just before serving, melt the jam and use a pastry brush to brush the top of the tart librrally with the glossy sweetness

Serve at room temperature, with a sprinkle of toasted flakes almonds and a spoonful of softly whipped cream (whip it with a touch of sugar and calvados for something extra special)

Marzipan baked apples

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Apple and almond is such a delicious combination, a definite favourite of mine. This recipe combines them in a brilliantly quick and easy pudding for a chilly day. Serve with custard for maximum comfort.

  • 4 large eating apples, braeburn or similar – anything crisp and tart
  • 200g golden marzipan
  • 2 tsp unsalted butter
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Use an apple corer to remove the core from each apple. If you can be bothered, you can carefully scoop the core out bit by bit with a sharp knife to leave a cm of apple in the bottom. I am not that patient so my holes go all the way through
  3. Run a sharp knife around the circumference of each apple, just going through the skin to leave it space to expand a bit without exploding
  4. Divide the marzipan into 4 pieces and roll each one between your fingers into a roughly cylindrical shape about the size of the removed cores
  5. Stuff the apples with the marzipan, pressing in with your fingertips until they’re as full as they can get
  6. Place them right side up into a snug-fitting foil-lined oven dish
  7. Pop a little blob of butter on the top of each one and a splash of water in the bottom of the dish
  8. Bake for around 30 mins until the apples are cooked all the way through
  9. Serve hot (but not so hot you burn your mouth on the marzipan!)

Apple and chilli salad

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Tart, fiery and super-fresh. An unusual and delicious flavour combination which works as a brilliant foil for rich, savoury stews or curries.

  • 2 granny smith apples
  • 1 red birdseye chilli
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • Pinch sugar
  1. Halve, core and then thinly slice the apple (just a mm or 2 thick)
  2. Slice the chilli, leaving the seeds in
  3. Whisk together the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce
  4. Mix everything in a bowl and serve at room temperature

Apple gingerbread baked pancake

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Autumn in a pancake. Sweet, spiced, puffy. Baked rather than fried, so I guess it’s really a kind of sweet yorkshire pudding aka Dutch baby. No babies were harmed in the making of this pancake. But they will definitely want to put it in their mouth.

  • 3 tart eating apples
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 eggs
  • 225ml milk
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 150g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C). Lightly oil a non-stick ovenproof frying pan and place in oven to heat for 10 mins
  2. Peel the apples and cut into little chunks
  3. In a bowl, mix with 2 tbsp brown sugar and the cinnamon
  4. Make the batter before you cook the apple. Whisk together the remaining sugar, the eggs, milk, maple syrup, flour, salt, nutmeg and ginger
  5. Pull the hot pan out of the oven, tip in the sugary apples and shake to spread into single layer
  6. Cook over a low-medium heat for 5 mins
  7. Pour the batter into the hot pan and then get it into the oven immediately
  8. Bake for about 20 mins until puffed and golden
  9. Serve straight away. It wouldn’t be terrible if you popped some vanilla icecream on top