Apples

Stilton, Walnut and Apple Scones

/ Claire / Leave a comment

These savoury scones are flavoured with blue cheese, walnuts, apples and sage. They are really quick to make and just the thing to bake on an Autumn Sunday afternoon.

Stilton Walnut Scones

The secret to these is toasting the walnuts, it really brings them to life and they go so well with the Stilton and apple.

Ingredients:
380g self-raising flour
85g cold butter, cut into dice
1tsp salt
100g walnut halves
180g stilton cheese, rind removed and crumbled
1 large, crisp apple – grated and squeezed to remove most of the juice
8 sage leaves, finely shredded and chopped
200ml cream
1 egg yolk and a little milk to make an egg wash

Stilton scone closeup

Method:
Toss the walnuts in a dry pan and toast them on a medium heat. Keep them on the move and don’t let them burn. You know when they are ready as they start to smell nutty and toasted and they will take on a more golden colour – around 5 minutes. Set aside to cool, before roughly breaking up or chopping them.

Place the flour and salt in a bowl and rub in the butter. Do this by hand, or in a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. The butter should look like small peas and the mixture will be like rough breadcrumbs.

Add the sage, apple, walnuts and stir through the crumbled Stilton cheese.

Using a fork, or with the mixer on low speed, add the cream to create a rough dough. Do not overmix.

Turn out onto a floured board and wrap in plastic, forming a disc. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 190°C/375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick liner.

Roll or flatten out the dough to a thickness of around 5cm and cut out your scones. If you use a 6cm cutter, you should get around 8 altogether.

Stilton scones1

Place the scones on the lined baking sheet and brush with the egg wash.

Bake for around 20 minutes, or until baked through and the tops are golden brown.

Stilton scone open

These are lovely, hot from the oven with salted butter and perhaps some chutney and a little more of the Stilton. They make a delicious afternoon treat on a rainy autumn day.

Hot Mulled Cider

/ Claire / 2 Comments

Autumn is here!  Hot and spicy mulled cider will warm the soul on the chilliest Fall day.

cider

Mulled cider is perfect for chilly autumn evenings, bonfire night, Halloween, romantic autumn picnics with leaves falling all around and, well just because it’s Autumn!

This is full of Fall flavours – apples, cinnamon and spices. If you want to give it a real kick, add a dash of rum at the end.

2 litres of hard dry cider – use medium cider if you prefer a sweeter taste.
2 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
1 orange, stuck with 10 cloves
A few grates of fresh nutmeg
1 apple, cored and cut into segments
1 tablespoon of maple syrup, honey or 1 tablespoon of brown sugar – adjust to preferred level of sweetness.
Rum – optional

Gently mix everything in a pan over a medium heat and allow all the flavours to mingle. Leave on a low heat for around 20 minutes. Don’t let it boil and serve hot in heatproof glasses, mason jars or mugs, spiked with a shot of rum if desired and decorated with a cinnamon stick.

This recipe can easily be made family friendly by using cloudy apple juice, either from the supermarket or by juicing your apples straight from the tree (after washing and inspecting for insects!)

Caramel Apple Cake with Butterscotch Sauce

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Autumn is upon us! The days are shortening and apples are abundant. This cake is filled with apples, cinnamon and served with a decadent butterscotch sauce

Apple bundt cake

Caramel apples for the cake:
2 large crisp dessert apples eg: Pink Lady, Granny Smith etc – diced
1 tbsp butter
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake:
2 ½ cups of plain/all-purpose flour
1 cup caster/fine sugar
½ cup of soft brown sugar lightly packed
6 oz/1 and ½ stick of soft butter left at room temperature
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs at room temperature

Butterscotch Sauce:
4 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of soft brown sugar
¾ cup double/heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F

Melt the butter and sugar in a pan and sauté the apples for around 5-10 minutes until they are golden and sticky. Set aside and leave to cool.

Butter and flour a bundt cake pan, tapping out the extra flour.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until light and airy. This should take 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next. When the eggs are mixed in, add the sour cream and vanilla.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt and combine.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared bundt tin and smooth out with the spatula.

Bake for 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire for 30 minutes before placing on a cake plate.

In a heavy bottomed pan and on a medium heat melt the butter and stir in the sugar with a wooden spoon until the sugar has melted. Whisk in the cream, vanilla and salt and let it bubble gently for around 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little before pouring over the cake.

Apple cake closeup

You can either serve the cake and sauce warm, or leave to cool completely.