Apple Archives - Munchies and Munchkins

Last week I bought some really cheap apples thinking how bad could they be hey? It turns out pretty bad. I became a bit of an apple snob during pregnancy as I craved a particular crunch and taste .. I’m not so bad now but these just didn’t taste good. However I hate waste so yesterday I tried to think of an easy way I could use them up and ended up with these totally amazingly scrumptious apple parcels or mini puff pastry pies. So easy to make but the flavour is fantastic and a really quick and easy dessert option for people who don’t usually bake.

You will need:

A sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
2-3 apples chopped fairly small but any shape
1 tablespoon of lemon juice ( I used Jif lemon )
50grams of light brown sugar ( I used Whitworths)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1teaspoon of nutmeg
*Optional – zest of an orange or clementine and a handful of raisins/sultanas
1 beaten egg

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4. Mix your apple in a bowl with lemon, sugar,cinnamon and nutmeg.

Cut your pastry into an equal amount of squares. On half of the squares place a spoonful of the apple mixture in the middle then brush some egg around the rim of the square and place another square on top, press to seal with a fork around the edge and pierce the top of the parcel. Repeat until all squares are used up then brush each parcel with the egg and bake on a tray until golden brown (approx 20 mins). Dust with icing sugar.

Serve while warm (although be careful contents will be incredibly hot initially) with a dollop of thick cream. Totally delicious. You could use a cookie cutter to make different shared parcels. I did a second batch which were circular.

For me a fruit crumble is the absolute comforting dessert. If I feel a bit under the weather, stressed or just COLD ( it’s been so cold this month) I always seem to make a crumble. More often than not it will be just a plain old apple crumble but I’ve used raspberries, blueberries and peach in the last 12 months as well as my current favourite – apple & blackberry. I’ve been meaning to share the recipe for a little while but kept forgetting so I’m doing it now – finally after a tweeter asked me for it. Thanks for the nudge 😉

There are two ingredients that I feel make a crumble go from a nice dessert to something a bit special and different and they are ….drum roll …. Porridge oats and lemon! After seeing a tip from a celebrity chef ( can’t remember who – sorry ) a while back I have always used lemon zest and juice in my fruit filling. It doesn’t make it taste super lemony but it does add a certain zing. Also I should note that typically I use frozen blackberries unless we are lucky enough to get some whilst out strolling at the right time of year.

Anyway here is the recipe in its entirety:

1kg mix of chopped apples and blackberries – decide which you want most of 🙂
180g plain flour
160g caster sugar
120g cold butter, chopped
Zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp porridge oats
An extra knob of butter

Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Rub your flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs then add half of your sugar, mix thoroughly and set aside.

Place your apples, blackberries,lemon zest, juice, water and the remaining sugar in a saucepan and simmer for around 5-10 minutes just to soften. This will smell incredible and you will want a little taste.

Pour into an ovenproof dish and top with your crumble mixture, then sprinkle on your oats. Just before placing in oven break your knob of butter into several chunks and place on top of crumble – this is a Rachel Allen tip and will make it even tastier.

*If you prefer a chunkier crumble mix pinch some between your fingers to create lumps.

Bake for approx 30 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden brown.

Enjoy with cream, ice cream or custard.

Apple Puff Parcels

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Apple & Blackberry crumble with a lemon twist

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