Mini Caramel Apple Pies

I don't own a car.  I do have a license but have never been particularly fond of driving.  Being the anxious person that I am I am constantly worried that something will go wrong.  I also suck at multi-tasking so trying to drive panics me because I start to get confused.  The Hubby, on the other hand, is in the process of obtaining his license.  He is a good driver but hasn't managed to pass his test yet.  We've also never really needed a car.  It's an expense we can do without and it's easy for us to get about most places.  Of course, there are the odd times when a car would be useful, such as getting to and from work, going on trips to Ikea or for doing the weekly food shop.  It's not possible for us to carry our weekly food supplies back from the supermarket.  There is just a bit too much for the distance we have to travel (about a half hour walk).  But luckily we live in the modern age where you can get your food delivered right to your door.  

Why am I telling you this?  Well, when you shop online, you have to pick what you want and specify a quantity.  We have our favourites list which makes buying our regular groceries nice and simple.  However, we occasionally crave something different and therefore have to track it down with the search engine.  Last week, the Hubby put through the order for the shop.  I only went in to reschedule the delivery since we ended up going out on the Sunday to see The Force Awakens (which was really god, by the way).  His craving this week was for apples.  We get apples every week, but they're for me and they're red.  He doesn't really like red.  He prefers the tarter, green kind.  So he ordered 5.  5 bags that is.  Neither of us was aware until the shopping was delivered and we received a carrier bag of 5 bags of Granny Smiths - around 25 apples.  Well, I just found it funny to be honest.  The Hubby was confused and embarrassed.  I said it was fine because now we knew what I would be baking with next!

So that's how we ended up here.  I had a lot of apples and needed to make something with them.  I decided I wanted to do something with pastry because it's one of those areas I'm still a bit lacking in.  Besides, apples in pastry are quite a classic and much loved dessert.  After perusing ideas on Pinterest, I settled on making mini apple pies, with the added decadence of caramel.  If I'd had any rock or sea salt kicking about I might have turned that into salted caramel but alas, not this time.  Maybe in the future.

I ended up making a couple of tweaks due to not having everything I needed.  Namely, I used just butter, rather than butter and shortening.  I had shortening in the fridge but it was past the use by date and I couldn't decide if it had gone rancid or not since I didn't know what that would look or smell like.  I decided not to risk it in the end.  I also used orange juice concentrate in place of lemon juice because I had used up all my lemons.  The change of juice didn't seem to affect things.  As for the pastry, I knew not using the shortening would change the texture somewhat and it wouldn't be as flaky but what you get with just butter is yummy anyway.

The tedious part of this was coring, peeling and chopping all the apples.  I think I used...about 7 apples.  That and making the lattice tops.  Otherwise this was a reasonably nice recipe to do.  Other than initially forgetting to give the pies an egg wash...  I took my pies to the regular Wednesday night tea with the in-laws (along with some home-made bread, but that's for another day).  They were a big hit (and go well with ice cream) and I ended up leaving most of them there.  The Hubby said to take 1 back for him and is now regretting that because he's eaten it and doesn't have any more!

There are still two bags of apples sitting in the kitchen but that's a more reasonable amount for the Hubby to munch his way through.  Anyway, that wraps up the last post of 2015.  I'm aiming to get back into baking more regularly next year as I only work part-time just now.  I acquired some new cook books I am looking forward to trying out!  So Happy Hogmanay everyone!  See you in 2016!   

Recipe - adapted from Mama's Gotta Bake

Makes about 9 muffin-sized pies

Pastry:

•  340g/12oz plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 200g/7oz butter (or 115g/4oz butter plus 85g/3oz vegetable shortening)
• 5-6 tbsp ice water

Filling: 

• 850g/1lb14oz tart apples (like Granny Smith)
• 70g/2.5oz brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 60g/2oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2.5 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp orange juice 
• 9 tbsp Carnation caramel
• 1 beaten egg + 1 tbsp water

1. Start by making the pastry.  Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter (or butter and shortening) quickly and rub into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add 2-3 tbsp of the water at a time and mix together with a fork to get a smooth dough.  
4. Tip dough out onto a floured surface and give it a quick knead before shaping it into a ball.
5. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling.  Peel and core the apples and cut into pieces about 0.5cm/0.25inch thick.  They need to be able to fit inside the cups of the muffin trays.
7. Put the chopped apples in a large saucepan with the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornflour and salt and mix together.  
8. Put the lid on the saucepan and cook the apples over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 18 minutes.  By this point the apples should be nice and tender.
9. Remove the lid and cook for another 5 minutes until the liquid has thickened.  Then remove from the heat and stir in the orange juice.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
10. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7 and grease a 12 cavity muffin tin (I used silicone as it made getting the pies out much easier).
11. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 0.5cm/0.25inches.  Cut out circles of dough that are slightly bigger than the cavities in the muffin tins (I used a ramekin as a template) and gently fit them inside.  Make sure you have about  1/3 of the dough leftover for the tops.
12. Fill each pie base with a generous helping of the apple filling (it shrinks as it cooks) and top with a tablespoon of caramel.
13. Roll out some of the remaining dough so it is wide enough to make two pie tops and cut into strips.  Lay out three strips horizontally on the floured surface then cut three more strips in half.  Weave the cut strips with the uncut strips then cut out circles that are just the same size as the muffin cavities.
14. Fit the woven tops over the top of the pies.  Repeat until you have made enough lattice tops for each pie.
15. Press the edges of the tops down against the base with a fork then use a pastry brush to coat the tops with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle with sugar.
16. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and the mixture inside is bubbling.
17. Allow to rest in the tins for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove (use a knife to run around the edges of the pies and use a spoon or fish slice to scoop pie out) and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Toffee Apple and Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake

We had quite a lovely autumn this year.  The colours of all the trees around here were just stunning!  I really wish I had thought to get a picture of the view coming into the village before the truly horrible weather set in.  It was seriously pretty with the trees and the church and the local restaurant lit up with its fairy lights.  Especially when the sun is giving off that nice warm glow you only get when it's low in the sky.  Ah well.  It didn't occur to me until too late and now everywhere is wet and grey and most of the leaves have been blown off the trees.

Anyway, since it's autumn I felt like baking with some autumn flavours.  I was determined to include pumpkin, as I have several tins of it in my cupboard from bulk buying it last year.  However, I then started going a bit mad with wanting to add all sorts of flavours so I also ended up using apples, toffee and ginger.  I used a combination of two recipes for my autumnal experiment.  Well, actually, I used three as originally I was going to include cinder toffee too.  I scrapped that, though not until after I made it.  The cinder toffee turned out well but tasted ever so slightly burnt so it left a bitter after taste.  I didn't think that was right so I figure I'll try that again another day.  The cake was fine without it anyway. 

I made this cake twice as the first one did not turn out the way I wanted.  It was far too dense in the middle.  It still tasted good but it annoyed me because I knew it should have been more cake-y.  Turns out I over mixed it.  I got too carried away with my lovely mixer.  Oops.  So the second time around I made sure to do the barest minimum of mixing for each stage and folded in the flour.  The result was much better so I was happy.

It's not the most attractive looking cake.  But I think that seems to be common with fruit baked on the top.  I never think upside-down cakes look particularly appealing unless you've used pineapple.  Cooked toffee and fruit and dark cake can look overdone, even though it isn't.  It probably would look a bit better if my apples were a bit more evenly cut.  Ah well.

This cake was scrummy.  Nice and moist with a distinctly apple taste and a ginger note at the end.  Drizzled with leftover toffee sauce is a necessity and this would go well with warm cream. 

Recipe - inspired by Sophie Thompson (via A Mummy Too) and Very Best Baking by Nestle

Toffee Sauce:

• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 100g/3.5oz muscovado sugar
• 150ml/5fl.oz double cream

Cake:

• 245g/8.5oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1.25 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see here to make your own)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 115g/4oz butter
• 115g/4oz granulated sugar
• 45g/1.5oz brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 a tin of canned pumpkin (about 215g/7.5oz)
•  3-4 large green eating apples (like Granny Smith)
• 60ml/2fl.oz treacle 

1. Start by making the toffee sauce.  Put the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan together and set over a low heat.
2. Stir the mixture until it is bubbling and golden.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. Line a 23cm/9inch round, spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
4. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
5. Cream the butter and the sugars together in a separate bowl until fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in after each addition until just incorporated.
7. Peel and grate half an apple and add it, the pumpkin and treacle to the mix.  Beat in.
8. Gradually fold in the dry ingredients.
9. Spoon half the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth out.
10. Peel half of the remaining apples and cut into thin slices.  Arrange the slices in a spiral pattern inside the tin.
11. Drizzle with about 1/3 of the toffee sauce.
Repeat steps 9-11 with the remaining batter, apples and toffee sauce (you should have some sauce left over for serving).
12. Bake the cake in the oven for just over an hour (a skewer inserted through the middle of the cake should come out clean).
13. Allow cake to cool in the tin for at least 45 minutes before unmoulding then finish cooling on a wire rack.
14. Serve with remaining toffee sauce. 

Great British Bake Along: Apple and Pear Green Tea, Cinnamon and Raisin Rye Rolls

Well, we're only on week 3 and already my schedule is getting messed up.  I was expecting a little bit of disruption but not this much.  I am currently drowning in work as I get settled in at my new job.  Being a teacher is hard!  And being a new teacher is harder!  There is still so much that needs organising and I am currently struggling to stay on top of things.  That being said, it should hopefully get a little easier (just a little) and I'll be able to establish a routine for myself that allows me time for work and rest.

Anyway, that is the cause of the delay for this Bake Along Challenge!  I was desperate to get it up before the next episode though so Tuesday night was spent rapidly editing photos (which ended up being taken without natural light, boohoo!) and typing things up!  So without further ado I present this (or last) week's:

As always I'll give my thoughts on the episode, which this week featured bread!

Admittedly, I don't have a lot to say this week.  This is in part to having a bad first proper day of work (kids started back on the Wednesday) and was feeling tired and miserable and wasn't taking notes.  So unfortunately there is little commentary.  That should hopefully not be the case with the next one.

Anyway, I will say I was surprised at Norman.  As I said last time, I was expecting him to do well this week but he's still being too simple.  I get that that is what he likes but this is GBBO!  You have to work outside the box.

Luis gets it!  It's no surprise he won star baker this week.  He created some spectacular things.  Even his signature rolls looked ridiculously impressive with their two colours and the swirl.  Very cool indeed.  Of course, Kate also did amazing.  It's just such a shame her showstopper did not cook properly and turned out raw because it looked stunning.  Quite a few did actually.  I really liked Richard's.  I want to try making something like that some time, when I'm not so busy.  Ham, cheese and spinach maybe?  Yum yum!  I also wouldn't mind attempting ciabatta, even though I'm not the biggest fan of it.  It's all right but just a bit flour-y for me.  I dislike overly floured bread.

And Jordan went out!  There was a massive chorus of 'Noooooooooooo!' at the mother-in-law's house (since we all gather there to watch it) when they announced it.  We all loved Jordan.  We didn't think he was the best baker but he was fun and inventive!  I still need to watch him on Extra Slice.  We all thought Norman was going to go because he keeps being criticised for being too simple.  He's really going to have to step it up because we're delving into the fancier categories now.  It's desserts next after all!  But we shall see I guess.

So I decided to keep with doing the signature challenge and hence I tried to make 12 rolls that used rye flour in 3.5 hours.  I'm going to admit this right off the bat: I did not finish these in the time limit, though I do think it would be entirely possible to do it.  I just happened to be distracted by building furniture and then the need to have tea. We do have a really nice new bed now though!  But that's getting off track.

I really wasn't sure where to start.  I knew I wanted to add some flavour to my rolls because you never do plain and simple of Bake Off.  The question was, what do I add?  I was at a loss and the internet was not being terribly helpful.  I knew I didn't want to include cheese, since the Hubby doesn't like cheese, and I didn't want to do anything that the contestants had done.  After much searching and consideration, I thought I would try cinnamon and raisin.  But I wanted to go one step further than that because that still seemed a bit of an obvious choice.  So I was hunting around for flavours that go with cinnamon and raisin.  This was even less successful than the original search.  The two were rarely combined with anything.  It was pure chance that I stumbled onto a listing for tea which was 'Apple, Cinnamon and Raisin'.  Now that sounded interesting; apple tea.  Another search yielded that Twinnings sold an apple tea.  It was too late to order it for the Friday shop but we would be going to town on the Saturday and I figured I would find it in the supermarket or the health shop.

Turns out neither had purely apple tea.  There was apple and cinnamon but I wanted to add the spice separately.  So I ended up opting for Apple and Pear Green Tea instead.  I know pear can work with raisins and cinnamon too, so figured that would be fine.

The next job was finding a recipe which would allow the incorporation of tea.  This was much easier though, since really I just needed to find a recipe that used water, which could be substituted with tea.  Stork's website yielded such a recipe and I just made the necessary adjustments to incorporate the flavours I wanted in place of theirs.

The rye rolls turned out pretty well, if a little inconsistent in appearance (I gave up on weighing all the different bits of dough).  The tea part is subtle but still noticeable.  The most prominent flavours though are the cinnamon and raisins.  They tasted good.  The Hubby is enjoying them.  He compares them to cinnamon and raisin bagels and says they are very good toasted.

Recipe -inspired by Stork
Makes 12 rolls

• 4 Twinnings Apple and Pear Green teabags
• 375ml/13.2fl.oz warm water
• 40g/1.5oz butter
• 340g/12oz rye flour
• 340g/12oz strong white flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3.75 tsp fast action yeast
• 3 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 155g/5.5oz raisins
• 1 egg

1. Steep the teabags in the warm water for 2-5 minutes.
2. Melt the butter.
3. Put the flours, cinnamon, salt, yeast and sugar in a large bowl and mix together.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the tea (without the teabags) and the melted butter.
5. Mix together to form a dough.
6. Knead the dough until it is nice and smooth (about 10-20 minutes).
7. Coat the dough in the olive oil, place in a bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size (about 1.5 hours).
8. Stretch the dough out into a rectangle shape, place the raisins in the middle and then gather the dough up around them.
9. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes to evenly disperse the raisins throughout.
10. Divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces.
11. Divide each piece of dough into 3 pieces.  Roll each of these pieces into sausages about 25cm/10inches long.
12. Plait the three pieces together then pinch the two ends together to form rings.  Place the rings onto two trays coated with greaseproof paper.
13. Cover the rolls and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 210°C/410°F/Gas Mark 7.
14. Beat the egg and brush over the top of the rolls.
15. Bake the rolls for 10-15 minutes until they are golden and sound hollow when tapped underneath.
16. Leave to cool on a wire rack before serving.

Apple and Cinnamon Turnovers

It is time for the Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge again and this month's ingredients were apple and cinnamon!

I decided I wanted to try something a bit different this time around.  I've used apples and cinnamon plenty of times before in cakes so I didn't really want to go that route.  This is meant to be a challenge after all.  So I decided to raid my books and see what I could find.

I admit, the first thing that did come to mind was apple strudel.  I knew the fiancé loved strudel and I've not made it before due to not really doing much with pastry in the past.  I even went and looked up how to do it, including how to do the pastry from scratch.  However it is rather complicated.  Strudel pastry is apparently very tricky to make and few people do it.  I saw them doing it on the Great British Bake Off last year and all that stretching looks scary!  Really, I just wouldn't have time, especially with this post-grad course and the fact that I already have an assignment to do which is due in next week.  So strudel was out but I was now determined to do something with pastry.  I needed to do something out of my comfort zone and working with pastry would definitely be that.  If I ever want a chance of getting on the GBBO, then I'll need to be able to bake all types of pastry.  It is probably the most used thing on that show.  It took some trawling, but I eventually stumbled on apple and cinnamon turnovers in the lovely baking book the fiancé had got me for Christmas but that I have so far not used.  

The turnovers themselves looked to be quite a simple recipe.  The challenge came from the pastry because I decided I was going to make my own.  This was my first attempt ever to make puff pastry!  Well, actually, it ended up being my first AND second.  My first try failed pretty quickly.  I brought it out of the fridge after its first resting period and went about rolling it into a rectangle, only to have all my butter start oozing out from every inch possible.  It just kept coming and coming and I ended up with a mush of butter and pastry.  Not good.  But at least it happened early and not an hour down the line.  So I started again.  I used butter straight from the fridge this time, rather than letting it soften first, and made sure it was really well sealed in its pastry envelope.  When it came to rolling out, there was still a little that managed to escape but it was nowhere near the amount of the first try.  After it had had a few rests and re-rolls it was less trouble.  I was quite pleased.

The book I was using was great.  It explains things rather neatly and all the recipes are quite short and to the point.  However, in the list of ingredients for the turnovers it said '3 apples'.  Just '3 apples'.  There was no indication as to size, weight or type.  So I guessed.  I got Bramley apples, since they are the standard cooking apple over here.  I also decided to just get 2 since they are rather big.  Turns out even that was way too much.  I only used about half the apple filling that I made.  Hence I'll be adjusting the ingredients in the write up.  I made sure to measure how much apple there was before and after making up the pastries, so you'll get a weight.

I cooked my turnovers in two batches.  The first batch I made came out really well.  The filling did leak slightly and the egg wash was a little patchy but overall I was happy.  There were no soggy bottoms!  Pretty good for a first attempt at puff pastry.  It's such a shame I burnt the second batch.  This is evidence that I should not multi-task.  Or at least, not do so in a room that isn't the kitchen or adjoining living room.  I have a tendency to forget about things if I leave the room.  I thought I was being productive when I decided to put away all the laundry and change the bed linen whilst the turnovers cooked.  But I forgot about them and lost track of time.  When I went back into the living room, I noted it was hot.  I then walked into the kitchen to open the window, wondered why the oven was on and then realised!  The poor things had been in half an hour longer than they should have been and were ruined.  I was so disappointed.  I cannot wait for my new oven timer to arrive.  Then even if I do forget by going out the room I'll still get a noisy reminder.

The ones that didn't burn apparently tasted yummy though.  The fiancé did think the pastry was a little thick but also said they tasted very like the strudels he would get at the market in Edinburgh at Christmas.  The cinnamon went really nicely with the apples and there were layers in my pastry!  I'll have to find time to make them again in the future, and not burn half the batch next time. 

Recipe - adapted from The Art of French Baking 
Makes 6 pastries


Puff Pastry:
This takes 2-3 hours to do since you have to roll out, fold and rest the pastry several times in order to get the layers in.

• 200g/7oz plan flour, plus extra for dusting
• Pinch of salt
• 100ml/3.5fl.oz ice-cold water
• 100g/3.5fl.oz butter

1. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix in the salt.
2. Add most of the water and mix in until you get a smooth and elastic dough.  Add more water if necessary.
3. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough into a square that is about 1.5cm/0.75inch thick.
4. Cut the butter into cubes and place into the centre of the pastry square.
5. Fold the corners over into the centre so the butter is completely enclosed within a pastry envelope.  Make sure there are no gaps.
6. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
7. Remove from the fridge and roll out into a long rectangle that is 5mm/0.25inch thick.  Try not to let any butter escape from inside (don't panic if a little comes out though).
8. Fold the short ends of the rectangle so they overlap each other in the centre to make a rectangle with three layers.  Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 at least seven more times.  You can do it more times if you want.  The more times you repeat the steps, the more layers your pastry should have.
10. Now the pastry is done so chill it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Apple and Cinnamon Turnovers:

• 170g/6oz apple (about 1 large Bramley apple)
• 60g/2oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 400g/14oz puff pastry
• 1 egg yolk 
• Water

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 and grease two baking trays with butter.
2. Peel and core the apple and then cut it into 1cm/0.5inch cubes.  Put in a medium bowl.
3. Add the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of the caster sugar to the apple and stir to coat them.
4. Lightly dust a surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry as thinly as possible.  Ideally you want to be able to cut all your turnovers from this one sheet and not have to re-roll (though I didn't quite manage it).
5. Use a 12cm/5inch circle cookie cutter, or trace around a bowl with a similar diameter, and cut out six circles of pastry.  If you want, you can also cut small, decorative shapes out of the leftovers (I made a heart for each one).
6. Place a heaped tablespoon of the spiced apple on top of each circle, ever so slightly off centre.
7. Moisten the edges of the pastry with water, fold in half to make a crescent shape and press the edges together to seal them.  If it tears in places, patch the gaps with leftover pastry.  If you made decorations then attach them to the crescents with water.  Place the pastries on the trays.
8. Beat the egg yolk and then brush the pastries with it to glaze them.
9. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar.
10. Bake for 30 minutes.

Apple and Blackcurrant Cupcakes

So I've become rather enamoured with the idea of using jelly powder to flavour things since using it to make the strawberry and cream fudge.  Hence I bought a few different flavours of jelly in my last weekly shop to have on hand for various things.  When Sunday rolled around and I was considering what to make for the Dundee lot, I decided I wanted to use one of the powders in the buttercream: namely the blackcurrant one.  

When deciding what type of cake to make to go with the buttercream, I tried to think of what flavour combinations I was aware of that include blackcurrant.  The first one that came to mind was apple, since the fruit squash we drink is apple and blackcurrant flavoured and very nice.  This was then followed by lemon since lemon seems to go with pretty much anything.  Not sure which to go with, I asked the fiancé what he wanted.  He said whilst he loves lemon, I've made plenty of lemon cakes and that apple and blackcurrant sounds really nice.  So apple it was.

I did not have any cooking apples when I made this decision though, so the fiancé volunteered to go out to the supermarket to get some for me.  At the last minute I added blackcurrant jam to the list because I thought it would make a nice addition to the cake if it was running through the centre of it.  Now, I made a very silly decision regarding the apples.  In many recipes where it has called for two cooking apples, I've only ever ended up needing one because they're so big.  I've always bought two but always ended up with one left over with nothing to do with it.  So this time I told the fiancé to just get me one because I was certain it would be enough.  You can probably see where I'm going with this.  Whilst the apple itself did weigh the amount I needed to include in the recipe, once it had gone through the cooking process with the cinnamon its weight had reduced by half!  Not good.  I had to quickly cook up some regular eating apples to make up the difference.  In future I'm just going to play it safe and buy the two.

Speaking of cooking apples, it is such a pain!  Mainly because the bases of my saucepans ended up black and stained.  I've managed to clean one but am still trying to shift a large amount of the stuff off the base of the other one.  I think putting the apple and cinnamon into the saucepan as two separate things was a mistake, since a lot of the cinnamon ended up on the bottom of the pan and adhered to it when it got hot.  I'm thinking it would be better to toss the apple slices in the cinnamon first and then put them in the pan.  That would hopefully stop quite so much burning on the base.

The other bane of my existence with these cakes was the decoration.  I didn't want just buttercream on top.  I like adding a little extra flare.  In the first place I really wanted to try my hands at making apple roses.  It didn't seem like it would be very hard: make a syrup; sit apple slices in it for extended period of time; wrap into spirals around each other to make roses.  Well, I made the syrup easily enough and I soaked my apples until the syrup had cooled but I could not get them to stay wrapped around each other.  I think my slices were too thick.  I made them as thin as my cutting ability would allow but I probably need an incredibly sharp knife to get the wafer thin slices I actually need.  So with that proving to be a disaster I had to think of something else.  Then I had a brainwave.  Why not just use my little flower cookie cutter and make tiny apple flowers.  They could be apple blossoms!  And since they had been soaking in the syrup, they would not brown whilst sitting on the cake.  Hence I punched tiny flower shapes out of all my apple slices.  They made quite a cute decoration in the end.  I'll probably use that idea again in future, maybe with different shapes like stars and hearts.  I bet it would work with some other fruit too. Strawberry flowers anyone?

These cakes went down very well.  The fiancé loves the buttercream.  So do I actually.  It tastes very like a blackcurrant drink.  He says the cakes have a texture like apple crumble.  They're not the moistest of cakes but that's made up for with the buttercream and the jam running through it.  It is definitely a more blackcurrant flavour but the apple and cinnamon are there in the background and everyone agreed that if they weren't there it would take something away from the overall taste of the cake.

Recipe - makes 14


Apple Blossom Decoration - inspired by Martha Stewart:

• 125ml/4fl.oz water
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 50g/1.7oz caster sugar
• 1 eating apple

1. Put the water, lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil then remove from the heat and cover.
2. Cut a circle of greaseproof paper about an inch bigger than the pan.
3. Peel and core the apple.  Cut into slices cross-wise about 0.5cm/0.25inch thick and then use a small flower plunger (like these on Amazon) to cut out small flowers.
4. Put the flowers in the syrup, cover with the greaseproof paper circle and leave to cool completely (about 40 minutes).

Cakes - adapted from Cox Cookies & Cake:

• 500g/16oz cooking apples (or 250g/8oz cooking apples, 250g/8oz eating apples)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 200g/7oz dark brown sugar
• 350g/11.5oz self-raising flour
• 6 tbsp seedless blackcurrant jam (about half a jar of Hartley's)

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and line three 6 hole muffin tins with 14 muffin cases.
2. Peel, core and chop the apples into small pieces.
3. Put into a small bowl with the cinnamon and mix until all the apple is coated in the cinnamon.
4. Transfer into a saucepan and cook over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until it turns to mush.  Then remove from the heat and allow the cool.  Strain off any excess liquid through a sieve and weigh out 250g/8oz of apple into a bowl.
5. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the apple and mix together.
6. In a separate, large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
7. Add the eggs and mix in until incorporated.
8. Add half the flour and fold in.  Then fold in half the apple.  Fold in the rest of the flour and then the rest of the apple.
9. Divide the mixture across the cases and then bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cakes should be risen and slightly springy to the touch.  A skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
11. Put the jam into a saucepan and heat gently to liquefy it slightly, stirring as you do.
12. Use an apple corer or a knife to cut a core out the centre of the cake.  Keep the core.
13. Fill the hole with jam and then put the cores back into the cakes.

Buttercream:

• 155g/5.5oz butter
• 310g/11oz icing sugar
• 1 x 23g packet of blackcurrant jelly powder
• 1 tbsp milk
• Violet food colouring gel (optional)
• Apple blossom decoration (optional)

1. Cream the butter in a large bowl until it is smooth.
2. Add the icing sugar and milk and beat until smooth.
3. Add the jelly powder and stir until evenly incorporated.
4. If using, add a bit of violet food gel and beat in until the colour is evenly distributed.
5. Put into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe swirls on top of each cake.
6. Remove the apple blossoms from the syrup and place on top of the buttercream.

 

Poison Caramel Apple Cupcakes

So here is the final batch of cakes I made for Halloween.  Inspired by a traditional Halloween sweet: caramel apples.  They are an apple and cinnamon sponge, with a caramel centre, a thin layer of caramel on top and then a layer of fondant painted to look like an apple.  I admit, I wasn't sure if anyone would like them, especially as the topping ended up being quite gooey and a bit messy.  But everyone who has eaten one really enjoyed them.  Of the ones I made for the trick-or-treaters, these are the fiancé's favourite.

The sponge for these cakes came from an American recipe, which was all measured in cups.  I also did my measuring in cups this time around because I was tired and did not want to convert them all. I will convert in the write-up though.

Recipe - adapted from Group Recipes

Makes about 15

• 2-3 Granny Smith apples 
• 260g/9oz plain flour
• 100g/3.5oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 170g/6oz oil (I used rapeseed)
• 60ml/2fl.oz apple juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 x 397g tin Carnation Caramel
• 200g/7oz ready-to-roll icing
• Red and green food colouring
• Icing sugar 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole and a 6 hole cake tin with 15 cupcake cases.
2. Rinse and core the apples, put on a baking tray and put in the oven to cook until soft.  This takes about 30 minutes.
3. Remove, allow to cool and then peel off the skin.  Do not turn off the oven.
4. Put the remains in a bowl and mash them into a pulp with a fork.  Leave to one side to cool.
5. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix together.
6. Break the eggs in a separate bowl and beat.  Add the oil, apple juice, vanilla extract and cooled apple pulp and mix together.
7. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until everything comes together in a smooth batter.  
8. Spoon into the cases, trying to spread the mixture evenly.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes, until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
10. Leave on a wire rack to cool.
11. Once cool, use an apple corer or a knife to make a hole in the centre of the cakes.  Be sure to keep the cores.
12. Open the tin of caramel and put 3 tablespoonfuls into a small bowl.  Mix until smooth and runny.
13. Fill the holes with the runny caramel and then remove the top of each core and use them to plug up the cakes.
14. Using a knife or small spoon, spread a thin layer of caramel from the tin (where it won't be runny) over the top of each cake.
15. Reserve a small part of the fondant icing for making leaves and stems.  Use the red food colouring to colour the rest of the fondant red.  The addition of colour will make it sticky so knead it in icing sugar to stop this from occurring.
16. Break off some fondant and roll in out into a square that is bigger than one the cakes.
17. Drape the fondant over the top and smooth down to the edge of the cake.
18. Press your finger along the edge of the case to cut through the fondant for a smooth finish.  Gently make an indent in the centre of the fondant with your finger to give the illusion of the top of an apple.
19. Using a clean paintbrush dipped in green food colouring, paint strips of colour from the centre of the cake to the edge.  Try to make your brush strokes as quick as possible to get the right texture.
20. Use another paintbrush to do the same with the red food colouring.
21. Colour the remaining food colouring with green food colouring (add a touch of red if you want a brown colour).  
22. Break off small pieces and shape into stalks and gently push them into the indent in the middle of the cakes.
23. Shape the rest into leaves, scrunching them slightly to make them look like they are dying.  Set atop the cakes, with one pointed end next to the stem.
24. Leave the fondant to dry before putting them in a tin.