"Autumn is
the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in
fruits."
-Samuel Butler
Mmmm, I do love Autumn. It is the season when some of my favourite fruits are at their best: plums and damsons, blackberries, apples – all delicious in a pie, or its even easier, lazier cousin, the cobbler. Today, I’ve gone for spiced apple and almond version.
You’ll notice the slightly
unusual ‘cake tin’ I’ve used – a 24cm frying pan. If you don’t have an ovenproof
non-stick frying pan, you can cook the filling in a regular non-stick frying
pan then turn it into a lightly buttered baking dish of similar proportions and spoon the almond batter
on top.
Anyway, first to the recipe…
To conjure
up a delicious Autumnal cobbler for 8 you will need…
For the filling
750g apples,
prepared weight (peeled, cored and each cut into 8 wedges) Drop the prepared apple wedges into a bowl of cold water with a little
lemon juice added, until ready to use. This stops them going brown.
30g butter
50g Demerara
sugar, or brown sugar
1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
2 whole
cloves, ground to a powder using a pestle and mortar (or your imagination)
1½ teaspoons
cornflour
a little
cold water
For the Topping
150g plain
flour
100g butter,
cubed
75g ground
almonds
50g Demerara
sugar, or brown sugar
2½ teaspoons
baking powder
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon
ground cinnamon
a pinch of
salt
175mls milk
2 tablespoons
slivered almonds
icing sugar to dust
First prepare the filling: Melt the
butter over a medium heat in a non-stick frying pan suitable for use both on
the hob and in the oven, and large enough to contain all the apples.
Dry the apples in a clean tea
towel and add to the pan. Cook gently for about 6 minutes, turning
occasionally, until beginning to soften. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and cloves
and continue cooking until the sugar has melted and all the apples are coated
with the mixture.
Mix the cornflour with just
enough water to make a runny paste. Stir this into the apple mixture until any
juices that have escaped into the pan have thickened up. Remove the pan from
the heat and set aside while you make the topping.
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| Sugar and spice and all things nice... |
For the
Almond Batter you will need…
… to pre-heat
the oven to 180˚C.
Put the batter ingredients - except
the milk, slivered almonds and icing sugar -into a food processor and pulse
until combined into a crumbly mixture like fine breadcrumbs. (If you don’t have a food processor, place
the flour and butter in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until the
mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the rest of the ingredients and
mix until just combined.)
Add the milk and pulse (or mix) until it comes together into a
thick but smooth mixture.
Dollop large spoonfuls of batter onto
the surface of the apple mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the slivered almonds,
and place in the pre-heated oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until risen and
golden brown.
Remove from the oven and dust
with a little icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature with good vanilla
ice cream.
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| Dolloping... |
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| Come and get it! |