ROASTED SPICED APPLES SERVED WITH MANCHEGO, ALPINE HONEY AND FLEUR DE SEL
Serves 8 people
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
3 whole cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4-5 grinds black pepper
1 pinch allspice
6-8 apples – peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Wild honey
Manchego Cheese – you’ll need a 4-6 ounce piece that you can cut shavings from
Fleur de Sel or another fine sea salt (Murray River Salt works well too)
Thick Greek yogurt (optional)
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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Melt the butter, sugar and spices all together in an ovenproof dish placed over medium-heat. As soon as the sugar has melted and the butter is foaming a little add in the apple slices and toss to coat well.
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Place the dish in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
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Remove the dish from the oven and divide the apples evenly onto eight dessert plates. Drizzle a little of the alpine or wildflower honey over the top of the apples, then top this with the Manchego shavings. Add a sprinkle of fleur de sel and serve.
Note: You can also add a spoonful of thick yogurt on top. It’s delicious.
APPLE AND GINGER PUDDING
Serves 8 people
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
5 large eggs at room temperature
4 large egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
Just less than ½ cup unsulphured molasses
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
4 ½ oz unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
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Butter and flour 8 - ½ cup ramekins and then set them on a baking sheet.
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In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the ground ginger, baking powder and salt and then stir in the crystallized ginger.
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Place the whole eggs, egg yolks, sugar molasses and lemon zest in the bowl of a standing mixer and whisk until well combined. Add the melted butter and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add in the dry ingredients and whisk for 10 seconds more.
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Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for about 20 minutes, until the puddings have risen and a tester comes out clean. Let the puddings cool for at least 10 minutes before un-molding.
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To un-mold the puddings, run a sharp knife around the edge of the ramekins carefully turn the pudding out onto a dessert plate. Spoon the apple-ginger sauce (see below) over the tops of the puddings.
For the apple-ginger sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
4 granny smith apples – peeled and diced
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1-inch piece fresh ginger – peeled and diced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup water
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Place the butter in a medium sized saucepan placed over medium heat. Once the butter has melted add in all the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring frequently until the apples start to fall apart. You may need to add a little water to the mixture. You will have a fairly chunky sauce.
APPLE, ALMOND AND AMARETTI CRUMBLE
Serves 8 people
For the apples:
6-8 large apples – peeled, cored and chopped into 1 inch pieces
Chopped zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup water
For the crumble:
10 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup almonds – chopped
10-12 ameretti - crushed
9 oz butter – cut into little pieces
1/3 cup sugar
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
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Place all the ingredients in a deep baking dish (at least 1 ½ inches deep) and toss to combine them well.
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To make the crumble, place all the flour in a large bowl. Add 8oz of the butter and mix it with the flour, using the tips of your fingers, until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Don’t worry if you have little lumps of butter left – it should look like that! Add in the sugar and mix to combine. Add in the chopped almonds and crushed ameretti and mix to combine.
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Cover the apples with the crumble mixture. Sprinkle a little extra cinnamon and sugar over the crumble. Dot the surface with the remaining butter. Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of crème fraiche.
