Quick Apple Flan

I saw this recipe in the Frills in the Hills blog, using pears. I tried it and it was pretty good, but I thought the tang of apple would be better. So thisevening I made the apple version for dessert.

Helping me with the measuring were these pretty baboushka doll cup measures, sent to me by the lovely people at The Claytons Blog. Each one opens and has a different volume marked inside, and they all fit together neatly.

The original recipe calls for 1 kg of fruit, but I used four pink lady apples which weighed just under 500 g. Peel, core and slice.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk and sugar.

Add flour and spice and beat until you have a thick batter.

(If the batter is very thick, add a little more milk.)

Add fruit and stir in well.

Pour into a greased baking tin which has baking paper in the base. Cook for 40 - 45 mins at 190 C until golden. Cool in tin for 20 mins and then remove to a cooling rack.


Serve warm with custard or ice cream, or eat cool as a slice.

This is a quick, cheap and easy dessert, which is a good alternative to apple pie or crumble, and everyone here really enjoyed it.

If I have one criticism, it is that the batter becomes a little 'leathery' and I wonder what would happen if self-raising flour were used instead. (Hopefully nothing too disastrous, as I'll be trying it next time!)

(for the self-raising flour version look here)

Ingredients:
500 g apples, peeled, cored, sliced
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp mixed spice and a shake of ground cinnamon

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

I love muffins made with buttermilk - it seems to give them a slightly sour tang (as in cheesecake rather than off milk!) which goes especially well with blueberries.

The recipe started as a loaf, but now I use it for muffins instead, as it's more practical for school lunches.

Put flour, baking powder, bicarb, nutmeg and sugar in a large bowl. In a jug put egg, buttermilk and have melted butter ready.

(I don't put the butter in with the other wet ingredients to keep it warm and fully melted.)

Add buttermilk/egg and melted butter to the flour mixture, and stir in gently. When almost combined, add blueberries and continue to stir until everything is just combined.

Spoon into muffin pans and cook at 190 C for 15-20 minutes (my smaller ones took 15 mins, and the bigger ones took 20 mins).

I had about 4 tablespoons of mixture left over and didn't have room for another muffin pan in the oven, so I oiled my mini quiche dish and made a little muffin cake instead. I sprinkled some extra demarara on the top and we shared a mini cake for dessert.


Ingredients:
2 cups (300 g ) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
small grating of nutmeg
1 cup (220 g) demarara sugar
1 punnet (175 g) blueberries
1 egg, lightly beaten
60 g butter, melted
1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk

Christmas Morning Muffins

I made these orange and cranberry muffins on Christmas morning - it's the fourth year in a row I've cooked them on Christmas Day, so I suppose it's becoming a sort of tradition! They are a Nigella recipe, from 'Feast', I think.

Of all the muffins I make, these are my favourite - they contain butter and are have a crunchy topping, so they are a little more luxurious than the others - but they also seem to have a better texture on the inside.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Squeeze orange juice into a measuring jug, then add milk until it reaches 150 ml.

Add melted butter and egg, then beat to combine.

Add wet to dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Lightly fold in cranberries and fill muffin cases.

Top with cinnamon and sugar mixture then cook for 15 - 20 mins at 200 C. Nice spread with butter.


Ingredients:
200 g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
75 g demarara sugar
grating of nutmeg
juice of 1 small orange (about 100 ml)
50 ml milk (approx)
60 g unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
75 g - 150 g dried cranberries (I use a handful)
Topping: 2 tsp demarara mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Chocolate Loaf

Another recipe from 'Apples for Jam' - chocolate loaf is a bread, not a cake. It's made in the same way as an ordinary loaf of bread, but has cocoa powder added.

I managed to buy some fresh yeast recently, and this is the first time I've cooked with it since school cookery lessons! I wanted to see how it compares with the instant yeast, which is what I have been using.

For this bread, the yeast is crumbled into a large bowl, caster sugar and hand-hot milk are added, and this is left for 10 mins or so, until the yeast has frothed a little. Flour and cocoa powder (I sieved mine because it was a bit lumpy) and melted butter are mixed in to make a dough. Knead until smooth, then cover and leave in a warm place for one and a half to two hours until risen. Knock back, form into a loaf shape on a tray, or put in a buttered loaf tin, cover and leave for 30 mins to 1 hour then cook at 180 C for 25 mins or so until hollow when base us knocked.

Ingredients:
15 g fresh yeast
40 g caster sugar
310 ml milk
400 g bread flour with a pinch of salt
40 g cocoa powder
40 g butter, melted

This made a beautiful-looking chocolate-coloured loaf, with a distinctive cocoa flavour. It's not at all sweet, and almost bitter. The book suggests you eat it at breakfast time with butter or jam, and to warn people that it's not a cake so they're not expecting sweetness. I'll have some in the morning for breakfast and see what everyone else makes of it, as I'm the only one who's tried it so far!

PS It's not particularly popular around here! It really needs to be eaten with butter and a tart-tasting jam such as marmalade, which to me makes it taste wonderful. I'll be freezing the rest and eating it myself I think.

Granola

This recipe is from 'Feast' by Nigella Lawson. I made the choc/peanut version but used almonds instead of peanuts because I'm not a fan of raw peanuts.

Very popular with the boys, and the cocoa powder adds a nice "Coco Pops" style choc hint to the milk without making it too chocolatey.

I add sultanas to mine when I eat it because I love sultanas.

Will be making this again but probably without the cocoa next time.