Apple and pear anzac tart

Pastry dough

1 ½ cups spelt flour

125g cold butter, diced

1 tbsp rapadura sugar or another sugar

1 egg yolk (reserve eggwhite for the crumble)

Couple of pinches of salt

Ice cold water

Fruit filling

3 apple and 3 pears, peeled cored and 1 cm dice

1 tbsp rapadura or other sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Optional 1 tbsp calvados

1 tbsp of corn flour

Crumble

½ cup oats

¼ cup of desiccated coconut

1 tbsp rapadura or another sugar

30g cold butter, finely diced

1 egg white

To make the pastry

In a food processor pulse the flour, salt and sugar, then add egg yolk, pulse again, add a tbsp. of iced water at a time, pulse until the dough comes together. Take the dough out and knead a couple of times to get the dough together, wrap up and let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

When the dough has rested roll out between 2 pieces of baking paper. Roll out to a circle big enough to cover to tart tin (about 30 cm diameter) it should be nice and thin about 2-3mm. Take off the top piece of paper and have your hand underneath and then quickly turn it over onto your tin. Then peel off the paper and press your dough in. You should have a little dough leftover that you can use in your crumble topping. Put back in the fridge to rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 160 fan forced or 180 c normal. Blind bake for 15 minutes using uncooked rice/chickpeas/blind baking beads on top of baking paper. When cooked take off the paper and weights and bake a further 1-2 minutes to dry it out.

For the fruit cook your fruit in a pot with the rapadura, vanilla, cinnamon and calvados (if using) simmer for 7-10 minutes or until soft. When cooked sprinkle over cornflour while stirring, this will thicken up the juices in the pot and help stop your filling leaking too much into the pastry. Add a little more cornflour if your fruit very extra juicy!

For the crumble mix

Stir together the oats, coconut and sugar and using your fingers squish through the butter and any leftover pastry, leave some little chunks. Then stir through your egg white.

Fill your pastry shell with the cooked fruit and then dot over the crumble mix and bake for 20 minutes at 160 c fan forced or 180c normal. Serve with ice cream or cream, hot or cold.

Apple, cinnamon & date muffins

Makes 10-12

Ingredients

1 cup of oat bran

1 cup spelt flour (or gf flour)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 apples, peeled, cored and small dice

2 eggs

6 dates, pitted

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup of oil (neutral oil) or melted butter

1 cup of milk

Topping (optional)

¼ cup of rolled oats

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp oil or melted butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix together.

Preheat oven to 160c fan forced or 180c normal oven

Line or grease well a 12 holed muffin tin. I use silicon so they don’t stick.

Blitz up dates, oil, vanilla and eggs until smooth, then add the milk and mix in.

In a large bowl add the oat bran, flour, baking powder and cinnamon, mix in wet ingredients and apple. Combine well and then spoon mix into 10-12 muffin holes. Then sprinkle topping over each muffin. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Apple fritters with an almond and coconut crumb

Well, you know I like to crumb things so last night I thought, what about crumbing apple and making apple fritters?!
The result was great!
Here is the recipe


Ingredients
2 large apples
¾ cup of almond flour
¼ cup of desiccated coconut
¼ cup of corn flour
1 egg, beaten
Cinnamon sugar to dust in when cooked. Use a ratio of 1:3 -1 tbsp of cinnamon to 3 tbsp of a granulated sugar such as panella.


Method

Peel your apple and using an apple corer, take the core out. Cut each apple into 4 rings, trim each end a tiny bit so they will cook evenly.

Mix the almond flour and coconut together.

Toss the apple rings in the corn flour, then the egg and then the crumb mix. Press the crumbs in well.

In a large pan cover the bottom with oil. Heat on a low to medium heat and cook the apple fritters 1-2 minutes each side until golden brown. Do not have too high or the outside with be too dark before the apple is cooked through. When done take out and put on paper towels if needed and then coat in the cinnamon sugar. You can serve with cream/ice cream/crème fraiche if you like!

Mango and apple bircher muesli

Bircher is great to make when you are on the go in the morning, and you can make so many variations and use whatever you have on hand!

This one is lovely when you come into beautiful mango season!

Ingredients

1/3 cup of oats

½ cup of natural yoghurt

½ an apple, grated or small dice

1 tbsp of chopped walnuts or other nut or seed

Optional ¼ tsp ground cinnamon.

1 mango cheek, diced

Method

Mix the oats, yoghurt, cinnamon and walnut in a container and leave overnight in the fridge to soak. Add your mango on top when you serve and an optional drizzle of honey. Of course you can just add the mango with your oats if you wanted when you put it in the fridge.

Apple, date and oat bran muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients

1 cup of oat bran

1 cup spelt flour or gluten free flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon mixed spice

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and coarsely grated, or finely diced

2 eggs

6 medjool dates, pitted

60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil or coconut oil or butter

200 mL milk (¾ cup)

Method

Preheat oven to 160c fan forced or 180 normal

In a large bowl place your oat bran, flour, mixed spice, apple and baking powder.

Blend your eggs, dates, oil and milk together and then add to dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

Spoon into a 12 holed muffin tin. Line and grease if needed. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Store in an airtight container for 2 days on the bench and then put in the fridge if there are any left!

Apple and cinnamon scrolls

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples, peeled & cored and 1 cm dice

2 tbps panella or similar (rapadura, coconut sugar, brown sugar)

2 tbsp sultans or raisins

1 tbsp melted butter

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Mix together and set aside

Dough

2 cups of spelt flour

1 cup of natural yoghurt

2 tsp baking powder

Method

Preheat oven to 180c fan forced or 200c normal

Line the bottom of a 20 cm springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides with some butter. If you don’t have one you can just arrange the scrolls on a lined baking tray.

Mix dough ingredients together and then knead until dough has come together, roll out to a 45 x 25 cm rectangle, it should be quite thin. Have the long edge towards you. Down the long edge put your apple mix along the bottom 3^rd, leave one third empty, you will be rolling up to the empty side.

Carefully roll up the dough. 

Then using a sharp knife cut 2 cm slices to get about 13 slices.  Line the outside of the tin with your scrolls, pop any filling that falls out back in, then place the rest in the middle, they will be touching. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown and not doughy in the middle. 

While still hot brush over a mix of 2 tsp honey and 2 tsp melted butter. Eat while warm. Keep the rest in an airtight container in the fridge.

 

Pork with prune and apple

Serves 4
Ingredients

4 x 125g boneless pork steaks, you could also use chicken

1 cup chicken stock

¼ cup of red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1 green apple, peeled, cored and 1 cm dice

1 brown onion, diced

½ cup of prunes, this is about 10, diced

Method

Season your pork steaks with salt and pepper. In a large pan put in some oil and when hot cook your steaks about 4-5 minutes each side, it can be a little pink in the middle. The time will vary depending on thickness. When done set aside and cover to keep warm. In the same pan (don’t wash) add your onion and apple and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add your vinegar and stock, simmer for 5 minutes until it has thickened like a gravy. Then add your prunes to warm through. Add your pork back into the pan to warm and serve up with some mash and steamed vegetables. Pour your sauce over everything and enjoy! ! I used carrots, green bean and broccoli.

Apple and pear crumble muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup of spelt flour

100g butter, melted

2 small eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup of panella

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 green apple and 1 pear, peeled, core and 1 cm dice

1 cup of milk

Method

Put everything in a bowl and mix until just combined, don’t over mix and it. Spoon into a 12 holed muffin tin, it’s better to line with paper cases unless you have a good non-stick one, or silicon one. Then spoon over your crumble mix and bake at 180c (170c fan forced) for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Crumble topping

½ cup of spelt flour

60g cold butter diced

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ cup of panella

Method

Pulse briefly in food processor, you still want to see small lumps of butter. Or you can use your fingers and rub the butter through.