british – fabrefaction

When it comes to autumn blogging, I just can’t get away from apple related ideas. It’s a well known fact that toffee flavours go well with apple so I thought I might wheel out the salted caramel recipe for this week’s post.

We had this after a large roast on Sunday and it was the perfect pud for a cosy autumn afternoon. One of my housemates (self proclaimed crumble connoisseur) called it “the zenith of desserts”, just saying, perhaps this crumble is not so humble after all.

The great thing about crumble is that it’s so quick to make and you can do it in advance, either cooked or uncooked and pop it in the fridge until you need it.

You will need

For the crumble:

140g/5 oz unsalted butter

125g/4.5 oz porridge oats

75g/2.75 oz ground almonds

50g/1.75 oz plain flour

50g/1.75 oz caster sugar

2 tbsp clear honey

4 cooking apples (bramley)

For the salted caramel:

100g/3.5 oz salted butter

80g/3 oz soft brown sugar

100ml/3.5 fl oz double cream

2 tbsp golden syrup

2 tsp salt

(Serves 6)

Apologies to those of you who spotted the missing ingredients list for a while there!

Step one

Mix together the dry ingredients for the crumble topping (almonds, flour, oats and sugar).

Step two

Rub in the butter with your hands, it’s better if it’s cold as the mix will breadcrumb a bit more. Mine was a little on the soft side because I got distracted and left it on the counter for a while.

Step three

Add the honey and mix in with a wooden spoon.

Put it in the fridge until needed.

Step four

Place all the ingredients for the salted caramel into a saucepan (minus the cream).

Heat gently until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved and then bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir regularly so that it doesn’t catch and burn. Leave to cool for fifteen minutes to half an hour.

Step five

Once the caramel has cooled for a little while add the cream and stir until combined.

Step six

Peel and chop the apples.

Step seven

Put the apples in the bottom of your dish, sprinkle with a little light brown sugar. Pour just a third to a half of the caramel sauce over the apples and cover with the crumble mixture.

Step eight

Bake with on 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 40 minutes.

Boom. The zenith of desserts.

Until next time.

Hullo again. I’ve decided to start a small series. I know, I can smell your excitement from here.

I will probably break it up a little every so often because it has one main theme (cupcakes) and I don’t want to bore. Not that cupcakes could ever be boring right?

The other day I was handed a Bakewell tart on the street (by a man in a co-op uniform, don’t worry, I’m not taking sweets from strangers). It’s been a while since I had a Bakewell tart, and you know what? I actually quite enjoyed it.

Then the thought struck me…a series of British sweets/puds baked into cupcakes is just what this blog needs.

For anyone who doesn’t know, a Bakewell tart has a pastry case, full of frangipane (almond), cherry jam and is topped with a thick layer of icing and half a glacé cherry.

So without further ado let’s kick off with an easy peasy Bakewell tart cupcake, which are also handily dairy free for our lactose intolerant friends.

Things you need

200g/7 oz plain flour

200g/7 oz caster sugar

50g/1.75 oz ground almonds

5 tbsp vegetable oil

250ml/6.5 fl oz cold water

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp white vinegar (I won’t lie…I actually used cider vinegar, because I wasn’t about to buy a whole bottle for a single teaspoon)

To decorate:

Icing sugar (royal icing works well if you have it)

6 glacé cherries

Cherry jam

Silver foil cupcake cases (to add that authentic touch)

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

Step one

Mix together the flour, almonds and baking powder.

Step two

Add the caster sugar and stir again until combined. Yup, this is SUCH an easy recipe that I gave that its own step.

Step three

Make a well in the middle and add the water, oil, vinegar and extracts.

Using a hand whisk make small circular motions until all the flour mix is gradually incorporated. Doing it that way will reduce the number of lumps.

Step four

Using a jug distribute the mixture evenly between 12 cupcake cases. Trust me. You will want a jug.

Bake on gas mark 4/180C/350F for 20-25 minutes until they spring back when touched.

Step five

Cut a circular section out of the middle with a small knife and fill with cherry jam. Remove excess sponge from the bit you removed and put the lid back on.

Step six

Mix some icing sugar with water until you have quite a thick consistency. Royal icing is good for this because it’s thicker and more opaque generally.

Pipe onto the cupcake, try to get it as round as you can.

Step seven

Pop half a glacé cherry on top.

TADA

Jaffa cakes, you’re next.

Tag: british

The humble crumble

Oh you tart.