Apple and cinnamon crumble cake

It is apple season and I am overwhelmed with apples at the moment after inheriting a huge tree in my new garden. It left me craving apple cake but I have to admit that I did not have a famous, family recipe handed down for generations. I was determined it should be perfect. So, where to start?  No cookbooks of mine sprang to mind, so I scoured the internet and as I have found before, this is a dangerous pastime. There are literally thousands of recipes to choose from and no real guarantee that any of them are any good or even going to work. In the past I have stuck to safe bets such as Jamie Oliver, BBC Good Food or allrecipes.co.uk. Large corporations, such as Jamie Oliver have testing kitchens which try out all the recipes, so they tend to be more likely to work. Other websites such as allrecipes have ratings so you can try and get an idea on the feedback. So after sifting through at least half a dozen recipes I decided on one by Nigella Lawson which had been tested and had good ratings. I am very disappointed to say it really was not very good. More of a pudding than a cake, it just was not special at all. I was quite irritated to say the least. I had made it and photographed it for this blog, which had taken quite some time and now I was at a bit of a quandary as to whether I should just write it up anyway, and say it was OK or start again. 

The cake sat there uneaten. It was the kind of cake which was just not worth sacrificing your waistline for. I wanted a cake that made you say “to hell with the calories, this is too good.” I decided I just had to try harder. Back to the drawing board.  I thought about what I really wanted from an apple cake. Apply, crumbly, not too sweet and a hint of Cinnamon. I wanted a cake that it didn’t matter exactly how many apples you used or what type of apple they were, it would still deliver on texture and taste. I finally found a recipe and I am proud to say that it is nothing short of perfect. Irresistibly good and every bit worth the calories.

Apple and cinnamon crumble cake

For the crumble topping:
125g plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon (depending on how much you like cinnamon)
50g slightly salted butter, cold, cubed
125g demerara or light brown sugar
50g roasted chopped hazelnuts or almonds

For the cake:
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
125g slightly salted butter, softened
150g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
100ml milk
2 large organic free range Eggs
6 Cox or Braiburn apples or 4 Bramleys
Juice 1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin with baking parchment. For the crumble topping, place the flour, cinnamon and cold butter into a large bowl or and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and nuts then transfer to the fridge. (Alternatively put the whole lot in a food processor and pulse until you have breadcrumbs)

2. For the cake, sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Using a mixer or electric handheld whisk, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs. Gradually beat a little flour into the butter mixture, followed by a little of the milk and eggs, alternating until they’re all mixed in. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and level with the back of a spoon. (This can all be done in a food processor too.)

3. Peel, core and halve the apples, then slice thinly and toss in the lemon juice. Arrange on top of the cake mixture then sprinkle the chilled crumble over the top.

4. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. You can see when it is done as the cake rises in the middle and the apples begin to poke out. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Great with vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream or clotted cream.

Barbecued Sweetcorn with Burnt Lime & Sea Salt

I hate to say it but there is distinctly a hint of Autumn creeping into the my Riverford vegbox so I am desperate to give you some recipes this week which really soak up the last of the summer sun. Use the BBQ as much as possible until it is too late! This is a fabulous way of cooking corn on the cob. The husks protect the kernels as they steam, whilst being infused with a fabulous smoky flavour.

The burnt lime adds a delicious sweet and sour twist. Definitely a taste of summer, no matter what the weather!

Barbecued Sweetcorn with Burnt Lime & Sea Salt

If the weather isn’t good enough, or you don’t have a barbecue, use a cast-iron griddle or heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the corn in their husks, with no oil. Leave them until the husks cook to a dark brown/black colour, then turn every few minutes so the whole husk is coloured, about 15 minutes in total.

4 sweetcorn cobs with the husk still on

2 limes

pinch of brown sugar

butter

flaky or coarse sea salt

Fire up the barbecue (or see above). Soak the sweetcorn cobs in cold water for 20 minutes. Throw the cobs on the barbecue and cook for about 15 minutes, turning frequently. The husks will burn but you should be left with perfect smoky corn underneath.

Cut the limes in half, sprinkle the cut side with a little sugar and rub it in with your thumb until dissolved. Press the lime on to the bars of the barbecue until lightly caramelised. Strip the corn from the husk, slather over some butter, squeeze and rub the lime over the corn and sprinkle with salt.

Autumn Feast

It is blackberry time again and there is nothing I love more during the school holidays than entertaining and feeding my kids for free.  Remember to cover their legs, so as to avoid the brambles and stinging nettles and relax for a while in the sunshine with a book, whilst they fill their buckets.  Wait a minute! That is not entirely accurate.  Don't  you get so sick of reading about perfect people, with their perfect kids in their perfect worIds'.  Especially cookery programs or cooking magazine articles.  It all looks so damn perfect!

So let me tell the truth.  I actually relaxed for about four and a half seconds before Amelie fell over, Daniel couldn't see, because he had sun in his eyes, Amelie needed the toilet, Daniel dropped all the blackberries he had picked in the middle of the stinging nettles and then it started raining.  Again! I don't think I read one page.



Another, probably more successful outing is pick-your-own.  We go to the massively commercial Garsons Farm in Esher, which is vast but amazing well organised and the selection of produce is awesome.  They also have a fantastic garden centre, playground and farm shop, so it really is a day out.  Unlike other outings with massive entrance fees, you only pay for what you pick, so at least you have something to show for your money at the end of the day.  But don't think that you are economising by self-harvesting.  The same fruit and vegetables in the farm shop are only fractionally more expensive.  Still, the kids love it and I think it is so good for them to be outside, close to nature and really understanding where their food comes from. And if the weather is good, it really is a beautiful setting.  We had been earlier in the year, firstly picking asparagus and then, a little later we had gorged ourselves on strawberries, gooseberries and peas.  This time it was sweetcorn, plums and apples. I love loosing myself amongst the trees, laden with gorgeous fruit.  I like to imagine myself in my private orchard of my stately home. 

That is until I am once more interrupted from my day dreaming with "Amelie thinks she has more apples than me and she doesn't!",  "Daniel hit me!", "Amelie bit me!", I need the toilet!", "Amelie has fallen over!" and then it starts raining.  Again!  So back home for a spot of baking. 

I have in mind an Autumnal Muffin, full of blackberries, apples and nuts, a hint of cinnamon and a crunchy crumble topping.  And, they were undoubtedly the most successful thing I have ever made with the kids.  The apple kept the muffins really moist and the blackberries just melted to jam. Kept the kids quite, for all of half and hour.  And I only had a few hours clearing up afterwards.

Now I just have to think of something to use up all those plums?

Blackberry, Apple and Pecan Crumble Muffins

1/2 cup butter, soft
1 1/4 cups unrefined caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Crumble
1/2 cup unrefined caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 8 tablespoons plain flour
 4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line your muffin pans with muffin papers. 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at time. Mix together the of flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Fold in apples, blackcurrants and pecans. Scoop into muffin cups to fill 3/4 full. Lightly sprinkle the tops with cinnamon crumble.

To make Cinnamon Crumble: In a small bowl, combine the sugar,cinnamon, flour and butter. Mix together using a mixer or your fingers.  Do not over-work.  You want to reach the breadcrumb stange, add the nuts and them continue until the mixture begins to clump.  Then stop.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If they are browning too quickly, cover with tin foil. Remove from pans, and cool on wire rack.