Posts tagged cinnamon

Banana and Blueberry Bread

How on earth we are already in March I don’t know?! I began the year with a triumphant new years ambition to develop my humble blog, challenge my culinary skills and pepper it with new recipes. However due to a number of unexpected hurdles over the past months this hasn’t been actioned as much as I’d like! With a very busy and eventful week at work under my belt and a browning bowl of bananas sitting provocatively on the kitchen table I thought of nothing better than to create the comforting, warming and homely delights of a banana bread loaf to scoff with tea. Studded with crunchy pecans and soft sharp blueberries it is delicious eaten alone or toasted with ice cream. I love the use of muscovado sugar in this recipe which was a deviation from my usual (and reliable) recipe using a more refined caster sugar. But its treacle like flavour and depth adds a decadent dimension to this classic.

Makes 1 loaf or 4 mini loaves

  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 125g softened butter
  • 235g muscovado sugar
  • 400g ripe bananas (about 4 )
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 100g blueberries
  • 50g chopped pecans
  • 1-2 tbsp demerara sugar
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line 1 x 400g loaf tin or 4 small loaf tins
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and muscovado sugar until creamy and fluffy.
  3. Gradually beat in the eggs, bit by bit.
  4. Mash the bananas with a fork in another bowl and add the vanilla extract. Combine thoroughly with the butter and sugar mixture.
  5. Sieve the flour and baking powder over the mixture and fold in to combine.
  6. Gently fold in the blueberries and pecans until evenly distributed
  7. Spoon the mixture into the lined tins.
  8. Scatter the top with a generous dusting of ground cinnamon and then top with the crunchy demerara sugar to create a nice crust.
  9. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes for the small tins and around 50 minutes for a large loaf tin. Check after 30 minutes regardless and remove from the oven when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  10. Leave to cool in their tins and then remove.
  11. Slice and serve layered with cinnamon mascarpone, yoghurt or warm with ice cream.
image
image
image

Pear and Cinnamon Cake with Lotus Buttercream

 

imageimage

I

wanted to create an Autumn cake that would fit with the seasons. Having been a bit of a stranger to baking recently, a gloriously empty leafy weekend back home seemed like a good time to reassure myself that The Great British Bake Off hadn’t detered me from the cake world! Pears seemed like a good choice here and I’m a cinnamon addict. After recently discovering the delights of ‘Lotus spread’ I felt it needed a place in one of my recipes so is used here in a crunchy coffee tainted buttercream. The chocolate leaves are a nice Autumnal touch here for a special occasion but feel free to leave these off if life is far too short in your eyes…

Makes 2 small cakes or 1 large one

Cake

  • 740g pears
  • 40g butter
  • 3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
  • ½ heaped tsp cinnamon
  • 200g butter
  • 200g sugar
  • 200g self raising flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 3 large eggs, beaten lightly
  1. Peel, core and halve the pears and diced.
  2. Heat the 40g butter, sugar and cinnamon in a frying pan until melted.
  3. Add the pears and cook until the pears and softened and the caramel thickens and coats the pears. Set aside to cool.
  4. Preheat the oven to 170°C. and grease and line 2 small cake tins (15cm wide) or one large one (24cm spring form tin)
  5. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
  6. Add the eggs bit by bit with a little flour if it curdles.
  7. Fold in the flour and baking powder
  8. Finally fold in the pears and their syrup and spoon into the tins.
  9. bake for about 35-40 minutes until springy to touch and cooked in the middle. Leave to cool.

NOTE: Cake tin size: I used two small tins. This isn’t really a recipe that could make a tiered cake due to the pears which make it more of a dense cake. So either use 2 small tins for 2 cakes or one large one. I also had some extra mixture so made a few muffins (which will take about 20 minutes to bake) as gifts to take to some willing friends.

image

image

Topping

  • 160g unsalted butter, softened
  • 80g ‘Lotus biscuit spread’, crunchy
  • 90g ish icing sugar
  • 40-50g dark chocolate
  • Handful mint leaves
  1. Start with the chocolate leaves. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over some simmering water until melted.
  2. Use a pastry brush and coat the back of the mint leaves very thickly. Done too thinly and they will snap when ready. Don’t worry about doing these really thickly. Lay over a rolling pin to dry and pop in the fridge.
  3. Once set, remove from the fridge. I won’t lie, this bit is fiddly and I think I only ended up with 2 whole leaves. But, the effect is still good. Make sure your hands are really hot and carefully peel the mint leaf from the chocolate. Repeat and set these aside carefully.
  4. For the buttercream, cream together the butter, spread and as much icing sugar to taste. This is a guide and your tastes will vary.
  5. Spoon into a piping back and use to pipe your cakes
  6. Decorate with the leaves and serve!

image

Apple Pie ‘Duffins’ and a 2nd Birthday

 

image

image

This weekend called for a belated blog birthday celebration and naturally a cake! Celebrating not only the last day of August which was blissfully sunny and spent wakeboarding on a glass-like lake in Wiltshire with some friends, but also the 2nd birthday of ‘forage in the pantry’ or FITP as its been recently named. Since my first ever blogged recipe and still one of my absolute favourites (see here) it has been two years of new experiments, flavours, combinations, styles, and ingredients which have flown by deliciously. A LOT has happened and changed in these past 2 years but the blog has been ticking over loyally and creatively in the background. Maintaining my sanity and satiety.

It pains me to say it but as Autumn approaches on the horizon in the form of darker nights and colder mornings, the apples are abundant and I felt it only natural to choose them as the star in my birthday cake. Taking inspiration from the controversial Starbucks ‘Duffin’ (muffin filled with jam) I have concocted a cinnamon cake filled wickedly with a slow roasted spiced apple puree and a tangy ginger lemon frosting. I refrained from rolling in sugar. Delicious served fresh on the day bitten into with no prior warning of the jammy filling.

Apple Pureesee here

Apple Crisps

  • 1 apple
  • 65g caster sugar
  • 35ml water
  • cinnamon
  1. Preheat the oven to 130° C and line a baking tray with parchment.
  2. Slice the apple on the horizontal using a mandolin to very fine slithers.
  3. Heat the water and sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolves and it bubbles into a lovely clear syrup.
  4. Lay the slices on the tray and brush with the glaze. Dust with a little cinnamon and sugar if you like and bake in a low oven for about 30 minutes until dry and crisp. Leave to cool.

Cinnamon Muffins – I actually found these too big and dense. I think they’d work much better as cupcake with a lighted spongy texture so I have included a recipe below but feel free to make them GIANT and muffin like as titled.

  • 115g unsalted butter
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 115g flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 35g chopped hazelnuts (optional)
  • 2-3 tbsp milk
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a cupcake tin with cases.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together very well until pale a fluffy.
  3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla a bit at a time.
  4. Now sieve in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold in gently until just incorporated.
  5. Fold in the nuts and loosen with a dash of milk if needed.
  6. Fill your cupcake cases and bake for about 15 minutes until golden and set in the middle. Leave to cool.

image

imageimage

image

image

Ginger Lemon Buttercream

  • 125g softened unsalted butter
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp ginger syrup (from a jar of stem ginger. You can also add some chopped stem ginger if you like)
  • 1 lemon, zest only
  1. Combine all (in a food processor) until well mixed. Fill a piping bag and use to decorate the duffins.

Assembling….

  • Take your cooled cupcake/muffin and slice the top off (usually easier if they have risen with a dome!)
  • Cut out the middle to create a small whole keeping the removed cake.
  • Fill with about 2tsp of apple puree.
  • Top with a little bit of the filling to hide the puree, eat the excess.
  • Pipe the buttercream over the top in any pattern you like
  • Top with a wafer
  • The best bit….serve to a greedy worthy friend.

image

Slow cooked shin of Beef with Cinnamon and Star Anise

image

There’s something about slow cooking which quickly prepared meals (regardless if wholesome and homemade) just cannot replace. Depth of flavour, love and attention and a melt in the mouth texture. Slow cooking allows so much time for the flavours to develop and infuse. I was skeptical at the extent to which just a small star of wooden star anise and a cigar coil of cinnamon could impart but it really is amazing at the subtle but very evident punch a pinwheel of spice can offer. Don’t worry, the chocolate cannot be tasted in an offensive way just a rich silky background to a beautiful sauce. Although I will warn you….don’t think about adding your favourite Cadburys bar. Keep it dark.

Serves 3-4

  • 1kg beef shin (allow a little more if feeding hungry chaps or leftovers)
  • 2 large onions, sliced
  • 1 pint red wine
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise
  • 5 black peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pint beef stock
  • 25g dark chocolate (85%+)
  • Flat leaf parsley
  • To serve – roasted cumin carrots, savoy cabbage, creamy mash
  1. If you can, soak the cuts of beef in the red wine with the cinnamon and star anise over night.
  2. When ready to cook preheat the oven to 120°C. Heat a large heavy bottomed casserole dish with a splash of light oil, pat dry the beef and season well. Brown in the oil on all sides until golden and then set aside.
  3. Add the chopped onion and gently cook until soft for about 15 minutes making sure they don’t catch on the bottom.
  4. Add the beef back to the pan and turn up the heat. Add the wine, the cinnamon, star anise, pepper and bay leaf.
  5. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently for a few minutes until the wine has reduced a little. Top up the pan with enough beef stock to cover the meat and prevent it from drying out on cooking.
  6. Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours with the lid on by which time it should be deliciously tender and falling apart.
  7. After 3 hours, remove from the oven and take out the beef and as many onions as you can and set aside.
  8. Drain the sauce (adding a little more stock if it has reduced too much) and discard the spices. Place the sauce in a saucepan and simmer gently to thicken slightly spooning off any fat. Season to taste.
  9. Add the chocolate and stir in until melted.
  10. Return the beef to the pan and heat through.

Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley with some deliciously creamy mash potato. Soften some chopped garlic in a knob of butter before adding some shredded savoy cabbage and braising until soft. Cumin roasted carrots with a charred edge are also a delicious pairing.

image

Blackcurrant Lemon Madeleines

 

image

image

image

Not many things beat a gift box of homemade goodies especially when they’re madeleines. Delicate, pretty, elegant and gorgeous. A sweet crusty cinnamon-sugar coated Parisian madeleine is the personification of a classy French lady. I baked a fresh batch of these the morning before visiting an old and very special friend (you know who you are) to take as a gift.

Makes about 12

  • 100g unsalted butter, melted
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100g plain flour
  • 1 level tsp baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • Grated zest 1 lemon
  • 50g blackcurrants/blueberries
  • 50-100g cinnamon sugar (made with a ratio of 1 large tbsp: 300g golden granulate sugar)
  1. Whisk the eggs and the caster sugar together until pale and creamy.
  2. Add the flour, baking powder and lemon zest and lightly whisk in with the melted butter to prevent overdeveloping the gluten. Mix in the berries.
  3. Set aside for anywhere up to 3 hours. Apparently, the longer you leave the batter to chill the better as it chills and hydrates the flour. This helps to give you that bump on the back that is characteristic of a madeleine.
  4. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease your madeleine tray with a little melted butter and a dusting of flour if it is liable to sticking..
  5. Fill the moulds making sure you don’t overfill. The mixture will settle into place in the oven so don’t worry about smoothing them out.
  6. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on how big you made them and how large your madeleine pan is.
  7. Once golden and cooked, remove from the oven and, while warm, coat in a generous blanket of cinnamon sugar and then leave to cool on a wire rack before eating
  8. Best eaten fresh on the day or the sugar will make them sticky. Try with some cream/creme friache and some slow roasted strawberries.

image

image

Spice Roasted Sweet Potato Soup, Lime-cardamon Yoghurt, Coconut Flatbread

 

image

image

Some relaxing blogging always starts the weekend off well. After a long week, it was nice to slow down and take my time over lunch instead of dashing home from work and being caped in my apron and up to my eyes in ingredients before I could even take off my coat! I love to constantly use different flavours and it really is the easiest thing to inspire a standard recipe by adding a few flavourful touches. If you haven’t got a stocked pantry of store cupboard ingredients then I highly recommend investing in a few essentials to be at hand and add to your cooking (see here). My store cupboard is by no means complete…storage space and budget don’t allow my dream pantry so for now I stick to the most useful ingredients.

This warming soup is smooth, creamy and cinnamon scented. Sweet potatoes have natural sweetness which goes really well with cinnamon and ingredients like maple syrup so the lime and cardamon yoghurt is a lovely fresh addition to top it off. Coconut flatbreads (just because) are heavenly.

image

Serves 4

Soup

  • 800g sweet potato, peeled, chopped into chunks
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 onion, chopped finely
  • 2 pints of good, hot chicken or vegetable stock

Lime Cardamon Yoghurt

  • 150g plain natural yoghurt
  • ½ lime – zest and juice
  • Few mint/coriander leaves
  • 3-4 cardamon pods

Coconut Flatbreads

  • 15g dessicated coconut
  • 75-80ml coconut milk/water
  • 125g flour
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Peel and chop you sweet potatoes into chunky pieces and add to a large roasting tray. Throw in your garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled.
  2. Drizzle with a couple of generous tablespoons of olive oil or sunflower oil and scatter over the cumin seeds, cinnamon and some generous seasoning. Mix until coated in the spices and roast for 30 minutes. Toss half way through cooking.
  3. Meanwhile, sweat and soften the onion in a little oil in a saucepan over the hob and prepare your stock.
  4. Make the flatbreads by combining the flour, seasoning and coconut in a large bowl. Add in your liquid and mix with a fork until combined. Bring together to form a smooth dough, adding a little more liquid if needed. Knead for a few minutes and then set aside to rest.
  5. For the yoghurt, combine in a bowl with the lime juice, zest, finely chopped mint and some salt and pepper. Bash the cardamon pods to remove the seeds inside. Grind these as fine as you can in a pestle and mortar and add to the yoghurt. Stir to combine then set aside.
  6. Once the potatoes are ready remove from the oven and pick out the garlic cloves. Add the potatoes to the sweating onion. Squeeze the roasted and sweet garlic pulp from their skins and add with the potatoes.
  7. Add the stock and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the flavours are combined and the potatoes are really tender.
  8. Puree with a hand blender until silky and smooth. Add a little more stock to thin the soup if you like.
  9. Keep warm while you cook the flatbreads. Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll each out thinly on a floured surface. Fry each in a the dry hot pan for a few minutes each side until a lightly charred and they begin to puff up slightly.
  10. Serve warm immediately (or keep warm in the oven) with a generous warming bowl of spiced soup drizzled with the fresh yoghurt.

image

Moroccan Slow-cooked, Shredded Lamb Tagine and a Tuscan Red

 

image

Warming, spicy, comforting. Undertones of festive cinnamon and some punchy chilli. Sweet prunes, melting succulent slow cooked lamb and the freshness of lime all make this tagine one of my absolute favourites dishes! I once made this recipe when I catered for a 30th Birthday party for 70 people….needless to say, after repeatedly cooking up around 12 batches, my once favourite tagine recipe became a little hard to face again. However, enough time has passed and I couldn’t resist its tempting taste for my New Years Eve celebrations!

I give credit to the wonderfully wholesome and flavour laden style of Skye Gyngell for this recipe with a little adaptation from myself. I often serve mine, as recommended, simply scattered with fresh coriander on a creamy sweet potato puree. However, New Years Eve called for a glimmering jeweled rice salad and a tangy lime yoghurt.

NOTE: I’ve always used diced lamb shoulder for this recipe but this time I used a whole shoulder of lamb and cooked it on the bone for longer and shredded the juicy meat into the tagine sauce before serving. I highly recommend this if you’re willing to add a little more effort. If not, diced lamb shoulder works perfectly too!

Serves 6

  • 1 small shoulder of lamb, or about 1kg diced lamb shoulder
  • 3 red onions, chopped roughly
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3cm knob ginger, grated
  • Bunch of coriander, stems chopped, leaves picked for garnish
  • 1-2 red chillis (depending on their heat) finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp spice mix (made by toasting 1tbsp of each fennel, cumin, coriander, fenugreek and mustard seed with 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamon pods and 1 star anise in a dry frying pan until hot, fragrant and beginning to pop. Grind in a pestle and mortar until fine).
  • 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1- 1.5 litres chicken stock
  • 1 lime, juice only
  • 200g prunes
  • Optional- Skye suggests adding a splash of maple syrup (about 70ml) and100ml of tamari at the end of cooking. However, I never had these to hand on my first attempt so I left them out- it still tastes delicious without so feel free to experiment. For my tastes, I think the prunes add enough sweetness as it is without the need for syrup!
  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. In a large heavy bottomed casserole dish, heat a splash of oil. Season the lamb and brown the shoulder/pieces well in the pan for about 10 minutes or so before setting aside to rest.
  3. In the remaining oil and lamb juices, fry the onion for about 5 minutes until soft.
  4. Add the chopped garlic, chilli and ginger and cook for a further few minutes.
  5. Add the spice mix, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and cook out for a few minutes. Finally, add the chopped coriander stems and season.image
  6. Add the tomatoes and bring to the simmer. Add the lamb back in at this stage either in diced pieces or the whole shoulder.
  7. Cover with about 1 litre of the stock or enough to cover. I find the amount of stock varies and can be topped up during cooking for a thicker tagine once it has reduced
  8. Cover and place in the oven.If using a whole shoulder cook for about 2 hours. If using diced lamb, cook for 45 minutes.
  9. After this cooking time, add the prunes and remove the lid. Cook for a further 1 hour for the shoulder or 30 minutes or so for the diced lamb. This really cannot be overcooked so allow to cook away for longer on a lower heat if you like. Just keep checking/adding more stock if it gets too thick. (Essentially, cook until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced to the desired consistency. Add more stock is to thick (I usually top it up as it cooks) or remove the lid to brown and reduce if too thin)
  10. Once ready, add the lime juice and (if using the whole shoulder) shred the lamb meat into the sauce.
  11. Scatter with the coriander and serve!

I served mine with:

Lime yoghurt½ lime, juice and zest, and some seasoning per 150g plain yoghurt)

Jeweled Rice – Cooked wild rice, diced spring onions, chopped coriander, salted cashews and pomegranate seeds (or see here for similar recipe)

WINE: In terms of a wine to drink with this tagine, all I had to hand was this (below) delicious bottle from Italy that I received as a gift that I have been too tempted to open for some time! A Tuscan wine made from a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Sangiovese. Lamb and the typical dried fruits in this tagine went really well with the juicy Merlot flavours as would perhaps a Rioja of sorts.

image

Chewy Date Slice

 

image

However delicious, I was unsatisfied with churning out another generic batch of star-topped, icing-dusted mince pies this weekend. Before you bar-humbug me (as those who know me know I a Christmas LOVER) these have the festive touch of chewy sweet dates, punchy orange zest and warming cinnamon that make a welcome alternative to the mince pie. Especially if, like my glamorous Gran, you are raisin hater. Devour after a cold walk with some warm mulled wine to warn off the teasing sniffles of a brewing cold that threatens to sabotage your Christmas day..

Makes about 12 slices

  • 175g plain flour
  • 125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 250g dates
  • 1 orange
  • 75g butter
  • 150ml water (maybe a bit more)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 100g flaked almond
  • 30g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  1. Start with the shortbread base. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and the cold cubed butter until a dough forms. Alternatively, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you form a dough.
  2. Line a tin (about 25cm x 16cm) with parchment and mold the dough into the tin pressing it down with the back of a spoon. Chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the shortbread for about 15-20 minutes until golden but it doesn’t matter if not completely cooked as you will cook it again with the topping. Leave to cool while you make the topping.
  4. Put the dates, cinnamon, 25g of butter, water and the zest of the orange in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Leave to cool and puree in a food processor. Add a splash more water if too thick.
  5. Combine the flaked almonds, vanilla, sugar and remaining 50g of butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter melts. Coat the almonds in the melted butter and leave to cool a little.
  6. Spoon the date puree over the shortbread base and spread out evenly. Scatter over the buttery almonds and bake for about 25-35 minutes until golden.image
  7. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into slices and dusting with icing sugar.

image

image

Gooey Cinnamon Cake Bites

image

If you haven’t already checked out the ’smitten kitchen’ food blog then do. Not only is it one of the first blogs that I was introduced to but it is a prime example of a fantastically interesting, honest, varied and drool-worthy food blog created by a passionate foodie who cooks from the heart simply because, like me, she is addicted- cooking is my happy place. However, more so, she has been one of the lucky ducks to get her humble blog made into a cook book. I can only dream of this priceless achievement! However, this is not going to happen by cooking other peoples recipes but the sound of cinnamon (one of my favourite flavours), gooey promises and the multiple times I had clicked on the recipe link only to mutter ‘I must make that’, prompted this recent cake-tin-filler. Here is the original recipe for those interested.

Base

  • 190g plain flour
  • 2tsp baking powder
  • 115g butter, room temp
  • 150g sugar
  • 1 egg, room temp
  • 60 ml whole milk
  • ¼ tsp salt

Gooey Top

  • 60ml golden syrup
  • 60ml whole milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 170g butter, room temp
  • 225g sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 egg, room temp
  • 155g plain flour

Cinnamon Crust

  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Start by lining a 9inch x 13inch cake tin with parchment. This may seem big but it is a flatish style cake/cake bar. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. Start with the base by blending the butter and sugar in a processor or with an electric whisk until fluffy. Add the salt.
  3. Combine the egg and milk and mix into the butter and sugar until combined. Finally sieve in the flour and baking powder and stir to form a thick batter.
  4. Spoon it into blobs into the lined tin and spread out evenly and thinly with a spatula
  5. Now for the gooey layer, beat the butter and sugar together (no need to wash the processor) with the salt until fluffy. Add the egg.
  6. Combine the syrup, vanilla and milk.
  7. Sieve in 1/3 of the flour followed by half the syrup-milk mix. Add another 1/3 of the flour and then the final half of the syrup. Finally mix int he final 1/3 of flour and blend until smooth and delectable.
  8. Scrap large spoonfuls of the batter on top of the base and spread out evenly with a spatula until flat.
  9. Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping and scatter generously over the top to form a crusty cinnamon coat
  10. Bake for 25 minutes. It should feel slightly soft but gently et in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave totally alone to cool before removing from the pan.
  11. Cut into bite size pieces if you like.

image

Apple Crumble Ice Cream

 

image

This is quite a rich ice cream and a dessert in itself. The apple puree is really deep in flavour and if cooked down a little more and thickened it would make a beautiful apple ‘butter-come-jam’ for topping toast and croissants! Goes really well with some simple hazelnut and vanilla shortbread.

  • 1 can condensed milk (alternatively make a custard base but this recipe requires no churning)
  • 300ml single cream
  • 4 large crunchy apples
  • 100g soft brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp mixed spice and ground ginger
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 125ml water
  • 50g oats
  • 50g plain flour
  • 50g soft brown sugar
  • 60g chilled, cubed unsalted butter
  1. Start with the spiced apple puree. Core and chop 3 of the apples into chunky slices. Add to a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Then simmer gently until the apples break down and look a bit like apple sauce.
  2. Add the sugar and spices to the hot apples and mix. Transfer to a blender and puree. Have a taste, add more sugar to your liking depending on how sweet your apples were, or lemon juice for a bit of sharpness. Remember when you add purees to ice cream they should always be a little bit on the sweet side as that way they will taste fine when frozen.
  3. Leave to cool.
  4. Mix the crumble ingredients together until you have chunky breadcrumb-like texture. Transfer to a lined baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 170°C oven keeping an eye on it. Don’t worry as the mixture will most likely melt into a big slab. When its golden brown leave it to cool and crisp and then you can crumble it into pieces.
  5. Cube the remaining apple into small dice and saute in a little butter to soften. Leave to cool.
  6. Mix the condensed milk and the cream (or alternatively for a proper ice cream make a custard base. The benefit of the condensed milk is there is no need for any churning) and add the apple puree. Keep some reserved if you want to ripple some through the cream before freezing.
  7. Scatter some crumble and some of the cubed apple pieces into your container of choice and top with some of the mixture. If you want to ripple some puree through, do this now. Scatter with more crumble and apple pieces and repeat. Finish with a scattering of crunchy topping. Freeze until set (it will have a soft scoop texture) and enjoy!

image