0 Almond sponge topped apple pots

In winter nothing hits the spot like a warm pudding to round off a satisfying meal, this recipe is one I have been making for many years, originally based on Gino D'ACampo's miel e mandorle pots that I discovered was gluten free when I was entertaining a friend who is a celiac.

These are delicious served hot or cold and are easy to make, the recipe is a great way to use up apples left in the fruit bowl that are passed their best. I used a mixture of granny smiths and braeburn apples but other fruits would work as well. The pots are the perfect combination of fruit and moist golden sponge with a faint almond flavour, ideally topped off with a few flaked almonds. Serve with your choice of custard, creme fraiche, yogurt or cream.

What you need

• 6 dessert apples (I used Granny Smiths), peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
• 50g soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs - free range
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g softened butter
• 100g ground almonds
• Few sliced almonds for sprinkling on top
• Lemon juice
• Apple pie spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

What you do

• Preheat oven to 160c
• To make the filling cook the chopped apples, the soft brown sugar, lemon juice and spices in a pan until slightly softened, add a splash of water if you like.
• Place the cooked apple filling in four ramekins, divided equally
• Whisk the caster sugar and butter until light and fluffy ( I used my mixer)
• Add the eggs and ground almonds and whisk until you have smooth fluffy mixture
• Top the ramekins with the almond topping and sprinkle with a few flaked almonds
• Bake in the pre heated oven for 45 mins or so until golden and well risen
• Serve hot or cold.

I am linking this post to "Recipe Clippings" created and hosted by Farmersgirl Kitchen, as I have said this a recipe I have used time and time again and proudly features in my recipe scrapbook.

And also to Credit Crunch Munch created by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 all, hosted this month by Elizabeth's Kitchen, as I used some rather sad apples form the fruit bowl to create a great dessert dish.

                        

Detail: Almond sponge topped apple pots

0 Mulled Wine apple cake, featuring Holy Lama Spice Drops

A few weeks ago one of my fellow bloggers was tweeting about some amazing new spice drops she had been sent by Holy Lama Spice drops, so I was pleased and really intrigued when I was also sent a couple of flavours to have a play with.

The spice drops are essentially contracted extracts of natural spices, ethically sourced and simple to use.You just add as much as you need to your recipe using the dropper,They also have a 3 year shelf life so no more fusty musty stale jars of spices.

Holy Lama also have several blends as well as single spices in their range so you can understand why the range is popular with chefs and home cooks alike., in fact you have 27 to choose from. The drops retail at 3.49 a bottle so good value in my eyes as they last well and have a great just ground flavour and aroma.

Inspired by my samples I decided to use the "mulled wine" drops in a classic rustic style apple cake, this also enable me to use some of crop of apples from the trees in the garden. The resultant cake produced a wonderful aroma whilst baking and is delicious served warm or cold.  Please don't worry if you don't have any spice drops to hand as you can produce excellent results by using cinnamon or apple pie spices in your bake instead.

                                       

The bake is one that works both gluten free (with slight adaptions) or with wheat flour as this is a recipe that I have made many times over the years, another recipe why I like the recipe is that it makes two round cakes so giving you one to freeze or gift to a friend.

What you need

• 5 or 6 eating apples , peeled cored and cut in thin slices
• 2 eggs -free range (use 3 if using Gluten Free flour)
• 350g granulated sugar
• 2 droppers of Mulled Wine Spice drops or 2 tsp of cinnamon or apple pie spice
• 120ml Sunflower oil
• 300g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 x 9" baking tins - oil sprayed and base lined 

                              

What you do

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Measure all the ingredients except the apples, eggs and oil into a large baking bowl, once you have sliced the apples toss in the flour mixture to prevent them oxidising.
• Once all the apples are in the bowl, add the eggs and oil , mix together thoroughly. This will be hard work as the mixture is quite dry but all will be fine.
• Split the mixture between the two prepared baking tins and smooth the top with a spatula
• Place in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 50 -55 minutes until golden and well risen.
• Cool on a wire rack, serve warm or cold with custard, cream or yogurt

The spice drops add a beautiful warm spicy fragrance to this bake.

Detail: Mulled Wine apple cake, featuring Holy Lama Spice Drops

0 Apple and almond cake

I make no excuse for another cake using ground almonds as the flour substitute, this is a recipe I spotted initially being tweeted by Nigella (she of soft focus fame), no sooner had I followed the link to her website that I then saw another food blogger with a similar post. I now know why this recipe is so popular, it tastes so buttery and is moist with a subtle apple flavour. Just like Nigella's famous clementine cake its an easy bake which when combined with its fairly plain looks belies its deliciousness.

Ideal as a gluten free adult birthday cake and apparently a traditional "Seder" treat (Seder being the ritual feast at the start of Passover) why not give this bake a try.

What you need

• 3 eating apples (ones with plenty of flavour)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• Oil spray for the cake tin
• 8 eggs 
• 325g ground almonds
• 275g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 50g flaked almonds
• Icing sugar for dusting 

What you do

• Firstly we need to make an apple puree, place the peeled, cored apple chunks in a sauce pan with 2tsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice, simmer for about 10 minutes until soft and the apples make a rough puree.
• Allow this to cool fully before starting to bake
• Preheat the oven to 180c and oil spray a round loose bottom ( base lined) or spring form cake tin, approximately 9 inch diameter
• In a food processor blend the eggs, puree, sugar and lemon juice until you have a smooth mixture
• Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top with flaked almonds
• Bake for 45 minutes or so until golden and the cake tests cooked.
• Cool in the tin initially and then cool fully on a wire rack
• To serve sprinkle with icing sugar, it needs nothing more.

Detail: Apple and almond cake

0 Spiced apple chickpea cake

Recently I have been experimenting with cake recipes that are naturally gluten free or are made with alternative flours or no flour at all. I have previously dabbled with cakes made with chickpeas and beans previously including one that ended up being featured in The Clandestine Cake club cook book and they turned out well. The gluten free chocolate cake is of particular note , the link is here.

This recipe is based on the same basic recipe but I fancied including grated apples and spices to provide a fruity flavour in place of the chocolate plus I have bought a lot of apples recently as I am also planning on having a go at using apple sauce / puree as a butter alternative in baking so watch out for that post too.

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans (as our friends across the pond call them) are used as the flour substitute yet you still get some rise, the recipe is also lower fat as it has no added oils or butters. The cake is lovely and moist and is great served on its own or as a dessert if served with cream, custard or yogurt. You would never know it contains chickpeas at all, plus it smells amazing whilst baking all cosy and comforting.

What you need

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 cup of caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp lebucken spice (I used Steenbergs but you can come up with your own spice mix, may be incorporating cinnamon, cloves, ginger or what ever else takes your fancy)
• A couple of cox apples - grated keep the skin on 
• Lemon rind

What you do

• Grease a square cake tin roughly 9" by 9"
• Pre heat your oven to 180C
• Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until they become a fine paste , now pulse in the rest of the ingredients.
• Pour the mix into your prepared tin, don't be alarmed the mixture will be very runny
• Bake for at least 45 minutes until golden, set and risen. Test with a skewer to make sure its cooked through
• Cool fully on a wire rack
• Cut into squares and store in an airtight tin for a couple of days if it lasts that long

Detail: Spiced apple chickpea cake

0 Parsnip, apple and maple syrup cake for Harvest Home Clandestine Cake club event

The theme for this months clandestine cake club is Harvest Home - fruit and vegetable cakes. I enjoy baking with vegetables even the more unusual such as avocado as I appreciate the flavour, texture and moisture they can bring to your cake.

This cake is an easy bake and is already featured on the blog here 

For this cake club I decided to pimp the decoration and also make it a layer cake suitable for the event. Its easy to make a layer cake just carefully slice across your 2 sandwich cakes, hey presto 4 layers. These were then filled with vanilla buttercream and one layer was homemade damson jam and then topped off with spun sugar decorations, the secret to perfect soft fluffy buttercream is to whip the mix for at least 6 minutes and to ensure that the butter is soft before using.

Spun sugar is relatively straight forward to make from sugar melted in a pan, once golden in colour, remove from the heat and stir until you sense some resistance. This is the point you make the shapes you wish, I chose free form shapes. Protect your spun sugar from humidity and only prepare an hour or so before you wish to use it otherwise it melts and goes very sticky.

I had a minor disaster on the way to the venue where the top two layers slid off the two bottom layers, so apologies for the slightly shoddy appearance  As a seasoned cake clubber I am used to this sort of thing happening and managed to arrange a recovery of sorts, the spun sugar decoration were added once I got to the location so survived intact.

Detail: Parsnip, apple and maple syrup cake for Harvest Home Clandestine Cake club event

0 Apple, raisin and cinnamon sticky buns

In celebration of autumn and our apple trees in the garden being laded with some gorgeous apples, Mr Lancashire Food baked by special request some lovely sticky buns. The photography is phenomenal but please be assured they tasted even better than they looked.

Sweet dough is somewhat of an acquired skill and its a skill Mr LF has mastered, here's the recipe if you fancy giving them a go.

What you need

• 250ml milk
• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 50g caster sugar
• 500g strong white flour - suitable for making bread
• 10g sea salt
• 100g butter - melted
• 1 egg - free range beaten
• Couple of apples - peeled, cored and chopped into little pieces
• 60g butter - melted ( this is for the filling)
• 100g raisins (you could use sultanas)
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Couple of tbsp apricot jam -warmed with a little water - for glazing your buns and making them sticky.

What you need to do

• Warm the milk until blood temperature warm, whisk in the yeast and the sugar. Leave to one side until the mixture is all frothy and the yeast active
• In a large bowl mix the flour and salt , add the milk, egg and melted butter and mix with your hands into a rough dough
• Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes or so until the dough is soft, smooth and silky.
• Leave the dough to rise in a lightly oiled clean bowl,covered until doubled in size. As this an enriched dough this could take several hours
• Whilst you are waiting for the dough to rise, cook off your prepared apple pieces in a little of the butter, fry them gently for 5 to 10 minutes until slightly softened. Allow to cool
• Also you can use the time to grease your tin or tins, I always find this difficult, you want a tin which will take 12 buns cosily. Do this by melting the rest of the butter and brushing the base and sides of the tin.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, gently roll out on to a floured surface and make a rectangle roughly 18 by 12 inches.
• Brush the rest of the melted butter over the dough, leaving approx a 1cm edge clear of butter on what will be the middle of the bun.
• Sprinkle the dough with the cooked apple, raisins and the mixed caster sugar and cinnamon.
• Roll up the dough like you would a swiss roll
• Divide up the roll into 12 equal sized pieces and place in the prepared tin(s), now cover with some oiled clingfilm for about an hour or so until doubled in size.
• Pre heat your oven to 180c
• Bake for 25 minutes or so until golden and well risen
• On removal from the oven, brush with the melted apricot jam, so they are all sticky and golden
• Cool in the tin, if you can resist that long !

This months theme for tea time treats is "sweet breads and yeast breads" , this bake would make a fabulous addition to any tea table , so I am entering this recipe in this blog challenge this month hosted by What kate Baked. 

                                             

Detail: Apple, raisin and cinnamon sticky buns

0 Pork tenderloin with cider and caramalised apple sauce for #Boothscheers

Shh ! I have secret , I'm not really a fan of pork unless its in the form of  bacon, sausage, ham or gammon, this cut of pork however is my favourite if we are talking roasts, its also very quick to cook which in my book is always a bonus. Pork tenderloin or pork fillet is a very tender part of Mr Piggy and therefore doesn't take long to cook, here I am serving it with the traditional accompaniment of apples and cider which makes for a great quick roast dinner or supper, ideal for serving for that after work dinner if you have friends round.

The cider used in this recipe is one of the selection from #Boothscheers for their Beer and cider festival

Ingredients

• Trimmed pork tenderloin
• Fresh rosemary, picked and chopped
• 2 apples (ideally english if in season), skins on and chopped chunky
• Garlic cloves 2 or 3 peeled , sliced finely if using
• 2 tbsp creme fraiche or double cream
• Demerara sugar 
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
• Cider about 150ml 
• salt and pepper
• Oil - about 1tbsp or small knob of butter
• cider or wine vinegar about 1 tbsp
• Fresh thyme, picked and chopped

Method

• Preheat your oven to 210C fan, 230c non fan
• Place the oil, cider vinegar in a bowl to mix, toss the apples and onions in the mix and place in your baking dish
• Now if using the garlic make slits all over your fillet and squish in the slithers of garlic, gently toss in the oil and vinegar mixture
• Now sprinkle the onion and apple with a little sugar and the herbs , sprinkle the herbs also on the pork, season the whole dish with salt and pepper
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until the pork is cooked and apples and onions have softened and started to caramalise.
• Remove from the oven and put the pork and apples in a seperate dish, keep warm.Bring the the roasting juices and cider to the bowl in the roasting pan, bring to the boil and reduce by half.
• Wrap the roasting dish in foil , turn off oven and place dish in oven to keep warm
• Once the sauce has reduced add the creme fraiche / cream
• Serve with your chosen vegetable and slice the pork diagonally, serve accompanied by some of the caramalised apples and onions and your delicious cider sauce.

Detail: Pork tenderloin with cider and caramalised apple sauce for #Boothscheers

0 Cinnamon apple tray bake

Saturday is often the day is our household when I get round to baking, I always like if it all possible to have some form of cake to hand in case of unexpected visitors but also just to provide the comfortable feeling that if you want something sweet with your cup of tea, you have some lovely homemade cake to hand.

This is such a recipe, not the most glamorous of cakes but that's not what we are talking about here, its about home comforts and this cake fits the bill. An easy tray bake and stores well for a few days in an airtight tin.

Ingredients

• 1 cup soft butter or margarine
• 2 cups sugar - caster
• 2 eggs - free range please
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 apples, chopped and peeled
• cinnamon sugar for sprinkling ( 1tbsp demarara sugar mixed with 1tsp cinnamon)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180c and oil a large oblong roasting pan.
2. Combine butter and sugar and mix until creamy, light and fluffy.
3. Now add the eggs one at a time, mixing until well combined.
4. Add in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon (You might want to sieve this in).
5. Stir in the chopped apples.
6. Put your batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
7. Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Detail: Cinnamon apple tray bake

0 Apple Butter - windfalls for the store cupboard

In the garden the apple season is in full swing, our trees are old and knarled and are the remnants of a much larger orchard for a nearby ancient farmhouse. All the gardens in the local areas have fruit trees, mainly apple or perry pear, but the fields just down the lane also have crab apples and damsons as well.

Given that this year has been the wettest on record (interesting term that as records have only been kept for a few hundred years, I digress) the fruit harvest is very variable and many trees haven't fruited well , that combined with the trees being old, codling moth and fungal diseases means that the fruit is mostly ignored locally.

I like to embrace this harvest and every year when we have fruit in the garden, we make cider (variable quality), chutney, sauce, apple butter and freeze large quantities for pies and crumbles in the winter. We are also lucky that the fallen fruit particularly in cold winters attracts flocks of redwings and fieldfares into the garden to feast on the slowly rotting piles of apples and pears.

This apple butter recipe is based on a Women's Institute recipe and one from River Cottage preserves, its a easy preserve to make and is delicious on toasted crumpets or as a filling for cakes. The proportion of sugar is lower than a jam so its keeping qualities aren't quite as good as jam and it must be stored in a cool place and eaten promptly once opened. Its smells heavenly when cooking as the spices give it a deliciously aromatic scent, which when combined the cider notes is wonderful.

Ingredients

• About 1.5kg apples, cut up into chunks , only discard really manky bits !
• Sugar - Granulated about 800g
• 600ml Cider ( local if you can get it )
• 600ml Water
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves ( you can use other spices it up to you)
• Lots of recycled jars - sterilised (small one's are better so you can eat it all quickly once open)

Method

• Place your cut up apples, cider and water in a very large pan
• Bring to boil and simmer until all the fruit is soft and pulpy
• Pass through a mouli or rub through a sieve to remove the cores, pips and skins
• Add the strained pulp back to your cleaned pan, adding approx 350g sugar for each 600ml of pulp
• Add the spices (whichever you are using)
• Stir and heat slowly to dissolve the sugar
• Once the sugar has dissolved bring to a good rolling boil until the mixture is reduced and spluttering and creamy in texture
• Pot immediately into your warmed sterilised jars
• Cool and then store in cool location until use

National Apple Day was started by Common Ground

 This is also an entry for A little bit of Heaven on a plates Homemade and Well Preserved challenge 

STOP PRESS - I won best in show, amazed and such a lovely lovely prize a signed preserves book from Vivien Lloyd expert chutney and preserves maker and also a WI Judge

Detail: Apple Butter - windfalls for the store cupboard