Apple puff dumplings in cinnamon syrup

Apple trees all over the country are bursting with fruit at the moment. As I type this, I can see the neighbour's tree across the road, it's limbs sagging under the weight of juicy ripe apples.

Monday while I was on a walk after dinner, I passed a tree next to the old tennis courts. There were apples hanging off it, and the smell was delicious. I was amazed I'd never noticed it before. The tree was growing right through the tennis court fence, where probably, a discarded core had been tossed.

Apple trees dot the sides of the road about the place. I can imagine these too have grown from an apple tossed out the window of passing cars. There are free apples to be picked everywhere if you keep your eyes open.

On they way to Mount Gambier, on the grounds where the old forestry headquarters used to be, the houses are long gone, but the fruit trees remain. Apples, peaches, walnut and lemon trees still bear fruit, and unless you knew they were there, driving past, you'd have no idea. Just a tip, if you're not sure whether an apple is ripe or not, cut it in half, the seeds should be dark.

An older couple from our cul-de-sac brought over a box of apples in the last week from their trees. It was so nice of them. We've lived here for over 10 years, and it's the first time we've really interacted besides a smile and the odd wave.


Morning tea a few days later were a couple of these apple dumplings. Crunchy on the top and soggy on the bottom. Perfect for the cooler weather we are having. The afternoons and mornings have been a bit nippy. I do hope there are a few more warmer days coming though. I was so not ready to say goodbye to Summer. Not yet.

Apple puff dumplings

Dough: 
1 cup self raising flour
10 grams butter
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

3 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1 tablespoon white sugar

Syrup:
2 cups boiling water
1 cup brown sugar
60 grams butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
White sugar

For the dough, rub butter into flour, until there are no more lumps of butter.
Mix egg and milk. Add to flour and combine to a soft dough.
Roll out into a rectangle on a floured surface, and cut into 12 long strips.

Wrap a strip of dough around each apple quarter and place in the fridge.

For the syrup, melt butter and cinnamon in a saucepan. Add sugar, vanilla essence and boiled water. Stir until sugar is melted. 

Pour the syrup in a casserole dish big enough to hold the 12 apple dumplings.

Drop the wrapped apple quarters into the syrup and sprinkle over with white sugar. Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve the dumplings with cream or icecream.

Grilled peaches with rosemary

I have so many peaches right now. The tree is loaded and they all seem to ripen at once.

I made these grilled peaches. They are OH SO good!  

The recipe is adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe from a magazine from a few years ago. Our local library has magazines of all sorts to borrow, so I have been taking advantage of that, I can't get enough of looking through food mags. This way I can do it for free!

The original recipe used a vanilla bean and a dash of brandy. You could use them if you have them. He suggested you serve them with crumbled biscotti and creme fraiche, which would be awesome. I think some toasted almond slivers would be nice too :)

Grilled peaches with rosemary
6 peaches, halved and stones removed
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 rosemary sprigs

Arrange the peaches in a baking dish, cut side up.

Mix the vanilla essence with the juice of an orange and pour over the peaches.

Scatter the zest and the sugar over. Lay the rosemary over the top.

Place the dish under a hot grill for 5-6 minutes or until fruit is golden and the juices are bubbling.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cinnamon poached pears with a cream sauce

 ’This post is an entry into the Nuffnang ‘Fresh Recipe’ Network Competition, thanks to BRITA. Check out betterwithbrita.com for inspiration and exclusive recipes by Gary Mehigan’.

I am a filtered water convert. Up until a few months ago, I was always a tap water girl.

Brett would be forever complaining about the taste of the kettle water, and now, being a black tea drinker, I have to agree with him and finally get it.

I no longer use the town tap water to fill my water bottle, or the kettle, something I thought I'd never do. I use the water from the filtered rain water tap that he installed, right at the kitchen sink. Just secretly, I am loving it.

Here's a recipe that I use my filtered water for, using delicious, in season, Beurre Bosc pears. It's easy, you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Using filtered water in this recipe ensures that the you get the most out of the flavours in your dish, without the added, tainted taste, of unfiltered water.

Cinnamon poached pears

2 beurre bosc pears
400 ml filtered water
200 grams sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon lemon juice
100 mls cream

Place water, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla essence and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn down the heat to a simmer.

Peel the pears and lower into the saucepan. If they are not submerged in the liquid, lay them down and occasionally turn so they cook evenly. Cook for 10-15 minutes. 

Take the pears out and drain on a wire rack.

Reserve 100 mls of the poaching liquid. 

Place the reserved liquid back in the saucepan with 100 mls of cream. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Drizzle over the plated pears. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream(and some of my lime and poppy seed biscotti).

Passionfruit self saucing pudding

Don't think I am complaining, I secretly love it when someone comes round and plonks a bag full of fresh homegrown food on my kitchen bench. It means I get to cook something new.

A week ago my sister brought over a heap of passionfruit. My first thought was what the heck am I going to do with all those. The look on my face must have read the same, she said "You don't have to have them." I had my poker face on when my sister in law sat a bag of quinces on the bench yesterday!

It's happening more and more frequently. An uncle I have hardly anything to do with left a bag of spuds, a box of apples and a bag of peaches at my brothers place for me. Do I scream give me all your unwanted food stuffs?!

Turns out Summer is a real fan of passionfruit, could eat them all day. I'd probably let her but the resulting mess in her nappies isn't pretty! I am slowly convincing myself to start toilet training her, maybe after the school holidays. I may have psyched myself up by then. It has to happen sometime soon. Oh, the joy.....

I did drop off some passionfruit iced vanilla slice and some passionfruit pudding off at my sisters to say thanks for the fruit. I also made some passionfruit custards, baked in teacups, so good! Me and hubby ate those. They weren't going anywhere!

This is the recipe I made up for the pudding :) It's delicious :D

Passionfruit self saucing pudding

2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Self Raising flour
pinch salt
1 cup low fat milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp(with seeds)
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Separate eggs.
Beat egg yolks with the half cup of sugar.
Beat in milk, flour, lemon juice, salt and passionfruit.
Beat egg white until frothy, add the tablespoon of sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
Fold the egg white mixture into passionfruit mix.
Pour into a greased dish. Stand dish in a pan of cold water, so water goes half way up the sides of the dish.
Bake for 40-50 minutes.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Muntrie Cheesecake

A couple weeks ago we went picking muntries at Canunda. They are really good eating just as they are, on a platter with cheese or cooked in muffins, or sauces for meats.

Crabapples are ready now on the trees, and I was reminded of a cheesecake a friend of Mums made this time last year with them. I wanted to make the same cheesecake with muntries.

Muntrie Berry Cheesecake

Base

2 cups crushed marie biscuits

2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute(I used Stevia powder)

100 grams melted butter or margarine

Mix all together and press into the bottom of a springform tin. Place in the fridge while you make the filling.

Filling

900 grams cream cheese, softened

400 grams sweetened condensed milk (I used Nestles 99% fat free)

4 eggs

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 and a half cups chopped muntrie berries

1 teaspoon lemon rind (if I could've found it locally, I would have used a teaspoon of lemon myrtle)

Preheat oven to 150C.

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl, until fluffy. Gradually add the condensed milk and beat until smooth.

Add eggs and lemon juice. Mix well.

Stir in muntries and lemon rind.

Pour over the crumb base and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until middle is set. Cool and place in the fridge to chill.

I candied some muntrie berries for the top. It's the first time I have tried to candy anything, it could have been a bit darker. Usually you'll see nuts done this way for cake and dessert toppings. 

Mine look a bit dodgy(practice makes perfect), but they were delicious little morsels that tasted just like mini toffee apples!

An InLinkz Link-up

3 easy ways with peaches and puff pastry

Our peach tree was chocka block this year, again. Too many to keep up with, we got 6 buckets all together. I have frozen a heap of stewed ones to use throughout the rest of the year.

We went away for the weekend camping, and I left a bucket full of fresh yummy peaches by the fence with a 'free' sign on them and some bags with the hope that they wouldn't take my bucket. When I got home the bucket was still full! What is wrong with people?! Free yummy peaches, hello!!

Oh well. I got my bake on. 

Strudel

Peach mixture

4 peaches, peeled, seeded and sliced

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/4 cup flaked almonds

Mix all together.

Use one sheet of puff pastry. Lay peach mixture down the centre. Make 1 inch slits down the edges, leaving half an inch either side of the peaches.

Fold strips over alternatively, brush with egg wash(made with a beaten egg and 1 tablespoon of water) and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 200 degrees.

Peach Turnovers

Using the same peach mix as above, cut one sheet of puff pastry into four equal squares. Place a heaped tablespoon of mix on one half of the square and fold over, making a triangle. Seal around the edges with a fork or your fingers.

Brush with egg wash of one beaten egg mixed with a tablespoon of water.

Bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees

Dust with icing sugar to serve with lashings of cream!

Peach Tart

4 peaches, peeled, seeded and sliced

2 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted

2 tablespoons sugar

Cut one sheet of puff pastry in half.

Leaving a 1cm border, scatter the almonds on each half. 

Lay the peach slices in two rows along the pastry, remembering to still leave a border.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Brush edges with egg wash and bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees.