Appelkaka med vaniljkräm (Apple cake with vanilla cream)

This is an amazingly luscious dessert. The addition of lemon to the topping is absolutely inspired.
This was part of our Swedish Eurovision feast!

While you can eat it cold, it comes into its own when it is warm. Eating it straight out of the oven it is a slice of heaven itself. It is more of a pudding/crumble than a cake - so don't expect it to hold its form perfectly when serving!

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
7 eating apples
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup white sugar
2 egg yolk and 3 egg whites
100g ground almonds
grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon

For the vanilla cream
double cream, whipped with 1 tsp of vanilla extract.

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
Butter a 20cm flan or springform tin
Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples and put in a bowl. Add in the caster sugar and cinnamon and toss till coated.
Put into baking tin.
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks and then add the almonds, lemon, and lemon rind.
In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff and then fold into the mixture.
Pour this mixture over the apples.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the golden brown on top, and tender apples on the bottom.
Serve with a dollop of vanilla cream.

Placki z jabłkami (aka apple pancakes)

I bought some yummy apples at the farmers markets a couple of weeks ago & figured I should use them up!
Apple pancakes are just delightful served warm, and are also nice served cold so they make a lovely snack to take to work/school/picnics. Very easy to make - if you can make a pikelet you can make these babies.

Ingredients

2 eggs
350ml milk
2 tbs sugar
2 1/2 cups of self raising flour
3 small or 2 large apples

bit of butter for frying
icing sugar to serve

Method

Whisk eggs, sugar, milk till frothy. Fold in flour.

Peel, core, half and finely slice apples.

Makes a generous amount for breakfast or morning tea :)

Heat pan, rub v lightly with butter. Put a spoonful of batter into pan, press two halves of apple into the batter. Cook till bubble appear. Flip over and cook till the bottom is brown.

Serve with icing sugar sprinkled over the top. They are also nice with a bit of cinnamon in the batter - a bit apple tea-cakey. :)

Note: You can also slice the apples into match-sticks or even grate them and just incorporate them into the mix instead. I just prefer this method because you get a little bit more crunch to the apple.

Mint and Apple Jam

This mint and apple jam is tangy and savoury and oh so perfect with lamb dishes. It is also makes a terrific base for a salad dressing - stir in a little olive oil to loosen it a little and then stir it through a garden salad or just chopped up cucumbers for an unforgettably yummy salad.

Traditionally mint jelly and mint jam use granny smith apples, but in this version I substituted with some lovely tartish red apples.  It has added a beautiful reddish tint to the jelly, which makes it look quite festive in my opinion!

You can also change the type of mint - or even the type of herb used. Apple and rosemary or apple and thyme also make really nice condiments to serve with pork or lamb.

Ingredients

500g apples, cored and roughly chopped
375ml white vinegar
400g of sugar
4 - 6 tbs chopped mint.

Method

Cook apples in vinegar and sugar until soft. Use a potato masher to break down the soft pieces of apple. Bring to boil, and boil for 10 minutes until the mixture starts to jell.

Turn off the heat, add the chopped mint and stir through. The residual heat will cook this through.

Pour into sterilised jars.

Almás lepény

Almás lepény

Almás lepény is a Hungarian apple cake/pie. It is full of appley goodness! The apples for this version came straight from my dad's apple tree - and you can't get fresher than that. I'm not sure what the variety of apple is, but they were pinky-red rather than scarlet, sweet, and slightly tart. Use any sort of apples you want, as long as they are full of flavour! The pie/cake is light and a little bit moist, and will last a day or two - though it is best straight from the oven.

I've been wondering if I can use the same recipe with different fruits, like pears for instance ... will have to give it a go sometime...

Ingredients
200g plain flour
200g butter
4 eggs seperated
75g brown sugar
60g white sugar
500g diced apples (ours came direct from Dad's tree!)
2 apples sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp baking powder

preheat oven to 200C or 400F

Method
Beat eggwhites and white sugar till stiff.

Mix melted butter, brown sugar, and egg yolks. Fold this into the eggwhites. Sift the flour, cinnamon, and baking powder in. Gently fold in the apples.

Pour into a pie dish. arrange apple slices on top. I then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top, which is why it looks so brown in the pic - not overcooked I promise!

Bake for about 45mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Serve hot or cold, with or without custard and/or cream.