Apple & Walnut Scones

Scones are just something I don't really make but absolutely love eating, preferably with copious amounts of clotted cream and raspberry jam.  I'm not sure why I don't really make them but they just don't spring to mind ever. I was therefore pleased to see that for this month's Tea Time Treats Challenge, Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked set us the task of making scones of any variety.

The ultimate scones I've ever eaten are the apple ones served at Claridge's.  If you are ever in London and have the desire for a decadent afternoon tea then hot foot it to this Mayfair establishment and you won't be disappointed.  Their apple scones are small, light and fluffy. So inspired by gluttonous memories I looked for some apple scone recipes and came across this one on Baking Mad (this post isn't sponsored by them btw).  They turned out quite nicely and I liked the flavour and texture of the walnuts - I made them quite small but they definitely are nowhere near as fluffy as the ones at Claridge's.  I served them with a blackberry compote.   I think I do need a proper scone making lesson as the two times I've made them they have been slightly heavy.  I'm luckily going home to my parents in a couple of weeks time so will put the request in for a tutorial from my Mum.

Apple Muffins

My sister-in-law recently bought me, for my birthday, a tin of 'Grandma's Recipe Cards'.  The Grandma in question must be a great cook as there is everything there from roasted leg of lamb to tray bake recipes.  These apple muffins are the first recipe I've tried making myself.  The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute spelt flour for the plain on the original and using cinnamon instead of mixed spice.  They are very tasty and I like the fact the apple is still in chunks. The topping is quite sweet so if I made them again I would probably leave it off and finish with mixed seeds only making them perfect for breakfast.


The Recipe


30g butter
30g demerara sugar
30g ground almonds
60g  sunflower seeds
225g spelt flour
2 tspn baking powder
75g brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice 
2 apples, cored and cubed
1 egg
150ml soured cream
50g butter melted


1.  Preheat the oven to 190c/gas mark 5.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.  
2. Rub the butter into the flour, sugar and almonds until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sunflower seeds. Leave to one side as this is for the topping.
3.  Sift the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl.  Stir in the sugar, mixed spice and apple.
4.  In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients then mix them into the bowl containing the flour. Stir together - the mixture will be quite thick and lumpy.
5.  Divide between the paper cases. Sprinkle the topping over each muffin. Bake for around 20 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Hot Apple Flan

For this month's Random Recipes Challenge set by Dom at the idyllic Belleau Kitchen we were asked to randomly pick a recipe from a new cookbook.  One of the books I received for Christmas was 80 Recipes Brasseries Bocuse.  Paul Bocuse is a French chef based in Lyon where he has five brasseries as well as his famous restaurant L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges just outside the city. The author of the book, Jean Fleury, manages the brasseries and is a protege of the famous chef.


I spent a year living and working in Lyon where I had ample time to sample the amazing food this city has to offer.  I left after 12 very well fed months and 1 stone heavier.  This book was a very much appreciated Christmas gift from one of my Lyonnaise friends.  It has been great flicking through it reminiscing about the city and its wonderful restaurants of which the Bouchons are the most famous. The tradition of bouchons came from small inns visited by silk workers who were passing through Lyon in the 17th and 18th centuries. A bouchon serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, duck pate or roast pork. The dishes are generally focused around meat and quite heavy (remember the 1 stone...). Nowadays there are around 20 officially certified traditional bouchons in Lyon.


While the five Bocuse brasseries span many different types of cuisine the Brasserie du Nord chapter of the book focuses on traditional Lyonnaise cooking served in the bouchons and it was from here that I chose my Hot Apple Flan recipe. For me, apple flan is a quintessentially French dessert yet is is something I've never previously made.  The recipe itself was pretty simple although I struggled a bit with the Pate Brise pastry. In the end I changed the quantities slightly, reducing the amount of flour used,  as I felt the one in the book wasn't working out.  I definitely rolled the pastry out too thinly too meaning it burnt slightly during cooking. I've got a bit of a fear of pastry so that is something I need to work on this year.  Despite a slighty burnt crust this flan was rather delicious - Mr CB and myself devoured it in about 10 minutes flat (I feel the 1 stone might be coming back to haunt me.....).  


The Recipe (adapted from 80 Recipes Brasseries Bocuse)


6 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
30g butter, diced
30g caster sugar
apricot jam


Pastry:


100g plain flour
50g soft butter
50g icing sugar
2 egg yolks


1. Start with the pastry.  Cream the butter and icing sugar together in a food processor until pale and creamily.  Add the egg yolks and flour and blend until it comes together into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for an hour. 
2.  Preheat the oven to 180c.  Roll out the chilled pastry and lay it on a loose bottomed flan tin. Arrange the apples in layers over the pastry.
3. Sprinkle the top with caster sugar and the butter. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Once cooked, warm the apricot jam and brush over the tart.

Chocolate Chip Apple Cookies

These cookies are my entry for this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge hosted by lovely Chele at the fantastic Chocolate Teapot  blog.  The ingredient to be paired with chocolate for November is apple.  I'm not overly keen on chocolate and fruit combinations but I do like being challenged to try making something I might not normally bake.  I wanted to do Chele's challenge early this month - partly because I failed miserably to enter last's month's event and also because I'm going on holiday so won't be posting for a couple of weeks. 


I thought about making an apple and chocolate cake but it just wasn't doing it for me. I then thought about doing an apple crumble incorporating white chocolate into the topping but I'm a bit of a crumble purist.  So after some internet research I finally decided on making these cookies whose recipe I found on www.food.com.  I'd say the chocolate slightly dominates the apple but only a little bit.  The apple was grated which meant it didn't produce a soggy cookie, in fact they are very cake like.  I'm just not sure about them but it then occurred to me as I tried my second that they fit my 'Jaffa Cake theory'.  I'm just not sure either about Jaffa Cakes but every time I'm offered some I always have to have at least two to check that I still don't like them. Let's face it if you don't like something you don't go back for more so these cookies are in the same category.  I'm not wild about them but I don't dislike them. Mr CB however loves them so it is definitely just a personal thing. 

Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

I was a bit worried after last week's posts that I'd lost my baking mojo - I really didn't love either of the recipes I made, especially the Banana Turnovers (but let's not go there again).  I'm pleased to report however that after my stint in the kitchen making these muffins it is most definitely back (just as well as it's National Baking Week).   These are probably the nicest, fluffiest, most delicious muffins I've ever made. I've had to quickly put them in the freezer before I eat the lot (and completely undid the good I did from this morning's bi-annual run round the park). I originally found the recipe on the Total Greek Yoghurt site but have adapted it to make them a bit healthier.  I substituted wholemeal spelt flour for the original plain flour and rapeseed oil for melted butter.


This recipe is my entry for The Pink Whisk's new monthly challenge. For October Ruth has challenged us to make something containing apples. The smell of these muffins baking with their apple and cinnamon aroma wafting round the house just made this gorgeous sunny autumnal day even nicer.


The Recipe


200g wholemeal spelt flour
2 tspn baking powder
1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tspn ground cinnamon
100g soft brown sugar
125g greek yoghurt
1 egg
100ml rapeseed oil
1 tspn vanilla extract
150g apple puree (I'm not sure how many apples you would need for this as I made a big batch but probably 2 -3)


1.  Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6.
2.  Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate one.
3.  Mix together the 2 sets of ingredients gradually until you have a smooth batter.
4.  Spoon the mixture into a muffin tin. It will make about 8 muffins.
5. Bake for around 15 mins until golden and firm. Cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Wholemeal Spelt, Apple & Carrot Muffins

A while ago I made a tart from a recipe I found in a weekend supplement. It was part of an extract from the Popina Book of Baking. I was looking in my local bookshop this morning and came across the actual book. I loved the recipe I'd already tried and after a quick flick saw about 5 other recipes I immediately wanted to try so I now have the full book. I didn't realise that Popina started out with a grant from the Prince's Trust and a stall on Portobello Market. It is a gem of a book and when I read how it all started I'm even more pleased I bought it.

This recipe is for the most delicious, moist, not too sweet muffins, perfect for breakfast or mid morning and pretty healthy too. I'm a bit obsessed with spelt at the moment - flour, pasta, bread - as I love the flavour.

The recipe can be found in Popina Book of Baking.

Breakfast Loaf Sydney Style

I wasn't sure if I'd get a post up this weekend - my laptop broke on Friday night. It must have jumped off the sofa when I had my back turned. Well that's the story I told my husband anyway and I'm sticking to it....

My best friend in Sydney gave me this recipe after I had it at hers for breakfast and loved it. I'm not sure where it originates from but I'm wondering if it is a Bill Granger as I know she (like me) loves his cooking. I like it toasted with butter on it - she has it with honey or jam (cherry if possible) although I find it sweet enough without an extra topping.

The Recipe

50g porridge oats

300ml milk

240g wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

125g dried cherries

50g dried apple cut into small pieces

75g soft brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tbspn runny honey

1 egg, beaten

3 tbspn chopped almonds, plus a few extra to sprinkle on top of cake

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Pour the milk over the oats and set aside to soak for 30 mins. Grease and line a loaf tin.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and then add all the other ingredients and mix well together. Put the mixture into the tin and sprinkle the extra almonds over the top.

3. Bake for 45 mins - 1 hour (until golden on top and an inserted skewer comes out clean). Cool in tin before cooling further on a wire rack.

Tarte aux Pommes

I was in France this weekend so didn't actually do any baking myself. However our lovely friends did make a very French, very delicious Tarte aux Pommes. I asked them for the recipe and here is what I got.

Recipe:

1. Peel, core and slice 3 apples (eating). Then fry the slices in butter with a couple of teaspoons of sugar until slightly soft (do this slowly and gently so they don't burn).

2. Roll out the pastry and put in a tart tin. (They used ready made sweet dessert pastry.)

3. Drain the apple slices and then lay them on the pastry so they overlap.

4. Bake for about half an hour at approx 200c.

5. Before serving brush with apricot jelly to glaze.

Picture on its way.....

I'm having camera problems and the pic won't load.....