Dutch Apple Cake – Kruimelkoek

After being told about this Kruimelkoek recipe and getting my hands on the book below, I thought that this was one recipe that could not be missed, especially as I had a batch of Somerset apples that had been cooked and frozen. Having already blogged about a family favourite recipe for a delicious Somerset Cider Apple Cake, I wanted to see how this compared. The end result was great and something completely different, as the apples sunk down in the pastry, leaving a very tasty sponge with a crisp sugary crust. I can now see why Dr. Oetker wanted to add this to his Dutch baking book “Bak met plezier!” all those years ago.

Ingredients:
250g Butter
250g Sugar
500g Self-raising Flour
1 Egg
750g Apples (already stewed and sugared)
Vanilla Essence
Pinch of Salt


1. Soften the butter until creamy and add the sugar and vanilla essence, then the egg and salt and mix together.

2. Then add the sieved flour and mix with your hands until you have a crumbly mixture.

3. Put a third of the mixture in the tin, then lay the apple mixture on top, leaving a gap around the sides. Put the rest of the mix around the sides and on the top.

4. Cook in the oven at 180C for 50 mins.

Enjoy!

Blackberry and Apple Jam

Blackberry and Apple jam is a perfect autumn recipe – delicious, straightforward and very satisfying, especially when the fruit comes straight from the garden, making it organic too. I love that this is another of those family recipes handed down from generation to generation. As ever, I asked my mum where she first learnt about it and this is what she told me…

My grandma always said that blackberries should not be picked in October as they must be left for the rest of nature to enjoy and also the witches! I disobeyed her this year as the blackberries were so plentiful and juicy and hoped that there was enough for us all! Her jam recipe is a favourite of mine as I remember having it piled onto hot toast for tea as the evenings drew in. A good Autumn recipe. It is also good on real vanilla ice-cream.

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
4lbs (1.8g) Blackberries
1½lbs (680g) Cooking Apples
½pint Water
Juice of ½lemon
Sugar – either jam sugar or granulated

1 Put the blackberries and ¼ pint of water into a pan and simmer until the fruit is soft. They can be left whole or sieved to remove seeds.

2 Peel, core & slice apples, add remaining water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender and cook together until thick.

3 Weigh the pulp and add equal amounts of warmed sugar and simmer until all the sugar is dissolved.

4 * Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached.

5 Leave to cool slightly in the pan, having removed any scum that collects around the edge, and stir.

6 Pour into warm sterilised jars, leave to cool and cover.

Enjoy!

* NB To know if the setting point is reached, put a saucer to get cold in the fridge. Remove the pan from the heat, pour a teaspoonful of the jam onto the cold saucer and if the jam wrinkles when pushed with the finger setting point has been reached. If it doesn’t wrinkle put it back on the heat and cook and test until it does.

Somerset Cider Apple Cake

According to my mum, she found this in a old recipe book and as it had cider and apples in it and as my home county is Somerset, she thought it would be appropriate to give me this to share with everyone.

This is one of those cakes that is so delicious and moist that I would choose it any day over most other cakes even though it would appear the most rustic of them all!

It has been around as a big family favourite all my life and I know it will keep being one! Shame she can’t put a few of the small ones in the post to me – writing this blog can be very cruel at times!!!

Ingredients:
1¼ lbs Sultanas
½ Pint medium/sweet Cider
1 lb Caster Sugar
12ozs Butter
4 Standard Eggs
1¼ lbs Plain Flour
1½ lbs Cooking Apples
3 Level teaspoons baking powder
2 Level teaspoons mixed spice or ground coriander

Preheat oven to 180C/350F Gas 4 or 170C Fan Oven

Makes 18 muffins and two 1lb loaf cakes. It is also enough to fill a large roasting tin 30cm x 25cm (12″ x10″). Grease and line the tins.

1 Place sultanas in a basin and cover with the cider, leave in a cool place overnight until the sultanas are plump and have absorbed most of the cider.

2 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add beaten eggs gradually.

3 Add sifted flour, baking powder and spices, the mixture will seem stiff at this stage.

4 Add chopped apples (these can be the size of your choosing but should not be too big), sultanas and any remaining cider, and mix thoroughly.

5 Put mixture into prepared tin/tins and bake in centre of oven.

The muffins take 20/25 minutes. The loaf tins will take 40/45 minutes and the large roasting tin 1¼ to 1½ hours. Test with a skewer to make sure the middle is cooked.

Tip: If the top of the cakes are browning too quickly, place a piece of greaseproof paper lightly on the top and continue cooking until they are done.

When cooked the cake should spring back and have begun to shrink from sides of tin. Leave to cool in the tins.

NB Somerset Cider Apple Cake can be eaten hot, as a pudding, with cream or custard, stored in a tin for up to 1 week and freezes well.

Proof is in the pudding…

and in the vinegar it seems!

After enjoying another hour of foraging for fruits in our local wood as we promised ourselves, we ended up with another 2 pounds of blackberries, 2 pounds of sloes and half a pound of elderberries.

Once home we started the cooking and baking process, with my girlfriend making me a Blackberry and Apple Crumble for the first time ever, while I attempted to make mum’s recipe of Blackberry Vinegar.

The smell around the house of cooking blackberries was so intoxicating! All our pots and pans were taking on a deep red glaze as was the sink when it came to washing them all.

Having never made anything like this before I think the results were fantastic. We had some of the blackberry vinegar with some salad leaves and brie to start and had some of the delicious crumble for pudding. I am now converted into home baking especially with home grown and foraged produce. I am already looking forward to supper tonight as more of the crumble will be enjoyed!

Now to decide what to do with the sloes and elderberries…

Blackberry and Apple Crumble (Gluten Free)

First read… Proof is in the pudding…

8ozs Blackberries
1 large cooking apple
1 tabelspoon caster sugar for the fruit
4ozs Gluten free flour
2ozs Stork/Cooking margarine
3 tabelspoons demerara sugar
Oats for the topping

Use a pre greased oven proof dish for best results.

Preheat oven to 180C/350F Gas 4 or 170C Fan Oven.

1 Cut the apple into bitesize chunks and place in a non stick saucepan along with the blackberries. Add some boiling water and the tablespoon of caster sugar and heat until the apples are soft but have some bite.

2 While thats cooking, mix the flour and cooking margarine in a mixing bowl and sift it through your fingers until it resembles a breadcrumb consistency.

3 Add the 2 tablespoons of demarara sugar to the pasty mix and stir in well.

4 Place the warmed fruit into the greased oven proof dish and cover with the pastry mix.

5 Level the pastry mix with a fork and add a tablespoon of demarara sugar to the topping.

6 Finally add some oats over the top of the dish. Most coeliacs are not allergic to oats if they are not eaten everyday (Source: Coeliacs Society).

7 Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 mins or till the topping is golden brown.

Serve with either cream or custard.