Recipes

Here is a selection of the recipes we have used when cooking for Appley Cafe and making chutneys and preserves.
(Please make a request if there is a particular recipe you want that is not here). 

Apple, Peach and Pumpkin Chutney

This is a German recipe which makes a sweet chutney.
(We swapped peaches for more apples when we made this in our 'appley café' cooking session).

450g cooking apples
450g peaches (fresh! or tinned)
450g onions
450g pumpkin
1tsp peppercorns
½ cinnamon stick
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1 tbsp powdered mustard
1 tsp salt
grated rind and juice of 4 lemons
450g brown sugar
275ml vinegar

Peel and core the apples. Skin and stone peaches, or drain the tin. Peel the onions. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh.

Chop all the fruit, and the onions, into bite-sized pieces and put in a preserving pan.

Tie the peppercorns, cinnamon stick and coriander seeds in a piece of muslin or cheesecloth and add to the pan with the remaining ingredients.

Bring to the boil and then simmer, stirring frequently, for about 2 hours, or until the chutney is thick and pulpy. Pot into warm sterilised jars and seal.

Green Tomato and Apple Chutney

450g green(or red)  tomatoes (skins removed)
450g cooking apples (peeled, cored and chopped)
1 large onion (peeled and chopped)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tbsp raisins
4 prunes (stones removed and chopped)
350g brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
325ml wine or cider vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground all spice

Put all the prepared ingredients into a heavy based saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently for over an hour until the mixture has the consistency of jam (thick and pulpy). Stir often as it begins to thicken.

Add a pinch of cayenne pepper towards the end if like a bit of heat in your chutney.

Cool slightly before putting into sterilised jars and sealing.

 

Apple and Lemon Curd Tart 

(my recipe calls this Apple Cheesecake)

2 large cooking apples
12oz/350g shortcrust pastry*
8oz/225g caster sugar
4oz/110g butter
2 eggs
2 lemons
 
*Pastry
Use your usual shortcrust pastry recipe. I often use these proportions;
1lb/450g flour; 5oz/150g butter; 4oz/110g shortening or margarine; 4-5 tbsp water.
rub the flour and fats together until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add just enough water to bring the pastry together into a ball.
 
Line two buttered 8 inch/20cm flan tins with the pastry. 
Cream the sugar and the butter. Add the beaten eggs, the apples - peeled cored and coarsely grated, and the rind and juice of the lemons. 
Put the filling into the flan cases and bake in a hot oven (200C/400F/gas mark 6) for 20-25 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 170C/325F/ gas 4, and cook for a further 25 minutes or so until the filling is set.
Serve warm or cold.
 

Apple and Ginger cake

4oz/110g butter
8oz/225g dark muscovardo sugar
2 eggs
1oz/30g grated fresh ginger
8oz/225g self-raising flour
10oz/280g peeled, cored & diced cooked apples (prepared weight)
 
For the topping
2tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp Demerara sugar
 
Heat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3.
Cream the butter and sugar together and then mix in the beaten eggs little by little, followed by the ginger. 
Sift in the flour, fold together and then mix in the apple. 
Pour the mix into a greased 8inch/20cm cake tin and bake for about an hour, until risen and browned.
Spread the honey over the cake while it is just out of the oven, and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
 
In addition this menu has recipes for
  • Curried Apple and Parsnip Soup,
  • Tart and Tangy Beans,
  • Toffee Apple Tart,
  • Apflekuchen
  • Apple and Lemon Curd.