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In a bumper apple harvest growers are generous with their crop |
Welcome autumn windfall sweetens the crunch
It’s the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and apples are irresistible, says Clare Latimer
THERE is a scent in the air at the moment that autumn is round the corner.
It seems unfair just when we have had a spell of good weather but that is the way the cookie crumbles.
It’s such a great time of year for local fresh foods that I can’t help but get excited even though the evenings are drawing in early.
This week I can’t resist writing about apples as they are falling off my friends’ trees and I am being given basket-loads from very generous chums.
Ask around for anyone who has a tree and I am sure they could spare some, and then get cooking.
Also, you can often find boxes outside people’s houses in country lanes where you are asked to help yourself for free.
This is a kind and generous offering and is gratefully received by many.
Apple crunch cake
This acts as a good pudding if served warm and then I would have clotted cream or perhaps chocolate ice cream to make it complete.
It also serves well as a tea-time cake and then can be kept in an airtight tin for a few days.
Ingredients
2 medium Bramley apples, peeled, cored and quartered
225g self-raising flour
1 teasp baking powder
½ teasp mixed ground spice
125g butter, cut up
125g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp light brown sugar.
Method
Preheat the oven 190C/375F/gas 5. Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin and coat lightly with flour.
Reserve one quarter piece of the apples and chop up the rest. Put the flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, cubed apple and the lemon zest.
Gradually stir in the beaten eggs and mix well until you have a firm mixture.
Spoon into the cake tin, smooth over the top and then slice the final apple quarter over the top of the uncooked cake.
Cook for 30 minutes and then check if cooked. Poke skewer down through the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean and the cake has risen well it is cooked. If not, then carry on cooking for about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle over the light brown sugar while still very hot and leave to cool in the tin for about half an hour. Turn out and then serve warm if possible.
Apple Tansy
My Comfort Food Cook Book comes into its own at this time of year and never seems to date, as comfort is always needed. It is especially good at this time of year with winter round the corner and it is full of autumnal recipes including this one, which is one of my all time favourites.
Many apple puddings are quite heavy but this is perfect for September as it is light, fluffy and soothing and we can wait for the heavy puddings to appear in the depths of winter.
Ingredients
450g cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 strip of lemon rind studded with 4 cloves
50g butter
120g caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp Calvados
150ml double cream, whipped.
Method
Put the apples, the clove-studded lemon rind, the butter and half the sugar into a heavy-based saucepan and cook over a low heat until the apple is soft. Add a splash of water if the apple starts to stick or brown, or you can allow it to brown but watch it carefully.
Remove the stubbed lemon rind and discard.
Put the apple mixture into a blender and puree. Cool and then add the egg yolks, ground almonds, Calvados and fold in the whipped cream.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and, using a metal spoon, fold them into the apple.
Spoon into large glasses or a serving dish. Chill until ready to serve. |
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